Safe-by-Design Nanotechnology

Assessing nanotoxicity for safe and sustainable nanotechnology

Developing a regulation framework to assess safety, efficacy and toxicity, and guiding the future development of nanomaterials – across drug formulations, food additives and biosensors.

Safe-by-Design Nanotechnology

Human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials is inevitable, and as the use of these nano-enabled products becomes more widespread, so too will concerns around their safety and impact on human and environmental health.

The steep increases in nanoparticle applications have not been matched by progress in understanding their environmental, health and safety implications.

Considering the sheer number and diversity of nanomaterials, and the constraints associated with the conventional single endpoint based toxicity assessment methods, it will be impossible for toxicologists and risk assessors to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology.

A validated risk assessment framework for immunotoxicity by nanomaterials does not exist. There is therefore a need for a new science exploring the risk of nanomaterials, bringing together the physical, chemical, and biological sciences to address the challenges presented by these emerging materials.

This GC will develop underpinning science to guide the development of ‘safe-by-design’ drug formulations, food products, nanomaterials and biosensors and to protect health and the sustainability and benefits of nanomaterials.

Within the Grand Challenge we have three foci:

New methods and technologies - the development of high-throughput screening/nanodosimetry patho/physiology mimicking models, supported by machine learning, for testing safety, efficacy and toxicity of nanomaterials; potentially to replace animal models.
Nanotechnology and people – the development of socio-economic protocols to accompany and assess this emerging technology, its market and public regulation.
New functional materials – the development of nano-enabled materials for medical application including antimicrobial materials and biosensors.