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Friday, 3rd July 2009 (3602 views)

Gold nanotechnology has helped to increase the popularity of science among the general public, it has been suggested.

Speaking to MSNBC, Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University in the US noted that the subject has become more approachable in recent years and is now an "appealing" topic due to the fact that it involves the miniaturisation of materials.

"What we do with gold is a beautiful example," he told the news source. "You can miniaturise gold to the nanometre-length scale to make … little particles."

Explaining that in the Middle Ages gold particles were used to create red dots for stained-glass windows, Mr Mirkin stated that there are a lot of "neat applications" for the technology, including using gold nanoparticles to locate diseases and improve diagnostic techniques.

Mr Mirkin, who is the director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at the university, recently won the $500,000 (£306,000) Lemelson-MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) award for his work in the sector.

 

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