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The quantity of information on nanomaterial properties and behavior continues to grow rapidly. Without a concerted effort to collect, organize and mine disparate information coming out of current research efforts, the value and effective use of this information will be limited at best. Data will not be translated to knowledge. At worst, erroneous conclusions will be drawn and future research may be misdirected. Nanoinformatics can be a powerful approach to enhance the value of global information in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Much progress has been made through grassroots efforts in nanoinformatics resulting in a multitude of resources and tools for nanoscience researchers. In 2012, the nanoinformatics community believed it was important to critically evaluate and refine currently available nanoinformatics approaches in order to best inform the science and support the future of predictive nanotechnology. The Greener Nano 2012: Nanoinformatics Tools and Resources Workshop brought together informatics groups with materials scientists active in nanoscience research to evaluate and reflect on the tools and resources that have recently emerged in support of predictive nanotechnology. The workshop goals were to establish a better understanding of current nanoinformatics approaches and to clearly define immediate and projected informatics infrastructure needs of the nanotechnology community. The theme of nanotechnology environmental health and safety (nanoEHS) was used to provide real-world, concrete examples on how informatics can be utilized to advance our knowledge and guide nanoscience. The benefit here is that the same properties that impact the performance of products could also be the properties that inform EHS. From a decision management standpoint, the dual use of such data should be considered a priority. Key outcomes include a proposed collaborative framework for data collection, data sharing and information integration.

The breadth of knowledge required for the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology challenges and extends traditional concepts of multidisciplinary graduate education. There is a paucity of information, both general reporting and peer-reviewed studies, on the challenges for graduate students working in this multidisciplinary paradigm, from the students' perspectives. We report two graduate-student perspectives from different instructional models: (i) the core academic department that has expanded student choice by allowing additional classes to be taken from outside the core department and (ii) multiple departments working together to provide choice and diversity across the curriculum. We find, even after many years of multidisciplinary research, that traditional university organizational structure does not easily accommodate multidisciplinary research. In addition, administrative autonomy of academic departments and colleges, competition among various departments for contracts and grant submission, and a disconnect between research and teaching challenge multidisciplinary research endeavors. The students recommend that (i) university administrators support multidisciplinary departments and develop mechanisms to promote faculty participation; (ii) institutions and departments provide more multidisciplinary groups, centers, and institutes and encourage networking through broad collaboration; (iii) more graduate and postdoctoral fellowships for multidisciplinary research be created; and (iv) departments create more flexible curricula allowing their students to participate in more courses outside the department, necessary for a multidisciplinary thesis. Progress in multidisciplinary science will rely both on deep, specialized knowledge and, increasingly, on scientists who can speak a number of scientific languages and take advantage of synergistic connections. As new and more effective approaches to multidisciplinary training are developed, perhaps it is time to listen more to those with the most intimate experience of the system's successes and failures--the students who are training now to be the next generation of research leaders.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with rat skeletal muscle sodium channels (rSKM1) were analyzed to determine the effects of sialic acid on voltage-dependent gating of rSKM1. Enzymatic removal of sialic acid with neuraminidase from CHO cells transfected with rSKM1 indicated the role of sialic acid residues in affecting the electric field of the voltage-sensitive gating elements. Furthermore, sialylation was not directly involved in trafficking and insertion of rSKM1 channels.

Estimating potential risk of an emerging technology as its products are being developed offers the greatest potential for success of the technology. The National Nanotechnology Initiative was launched in 2000 to provide a federal framework to support safe and responsible development of nanotechnology.Within this framework, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focuses resources and expertise on both the biomedical applications of nanotechnology and the possibility of adverse health effects, or implications research. NIH developed the NanoHealth and Safety Enterprise Initiative by identifying shared research needs across the nanotechnology applications and implications research communities to create an integrated research strategy to maximize resources and expedite the development of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) that are safe by design. The central goal of this program is to decipher the fundamental principles of ENM interactions with biological systems that are relevant to human exposure and physiological response. Program components include materials science, basic biology, pathobiology, and informatics, as well as a cross-disciplinary training program for new nanotechnology scientists. The magnitude of this program will be best supported by flexible, dynamic funding and research mechanisms including the formation of public-private partnerships that span the expertise and interests of government, industry, academia, public interest, and other stakeholders. It is through such innovative, integrated, and cross-disciplinary programs that the full promise of nanotechnology may be realized while ensuring that this emerging field does not succumb to hidden perils. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2010 2 88-98 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]