The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a research and development initiative which provides a framework to coordinate nanoscale research and resources among United States federal government agencies and departments.
Mihail C. Roco proposed the initiative in a 1999 presentation to the White House under the Clinton administration.[2][3][4][5] The NNI was officially launched in 2000 and received funding for the first time in FY2001.[6]
President Bill Clinton advocated nanotechnology development. In a 21 January 2000 speech [1] at the California Institute of Technology, Clinton stated that "Some of our research goals may take twenty or more years to achieve, but that is precisely why there is an important role for the federal government."
President George W. Bush further increased funding for nanotechnology. On 3 December 2003 Bush signed into law the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (Pub.L. 108â153 (text) (PDF)), which authorizes expenditures for five of the participating agencies totaling $3.63 billion over four years.[2]. This law is an authorization, not an appropriation, and subsequent appropriations for these five agencies have not met the goals set out in the 2003 Act. However, there are many agencies involved in the Initiative that are not covered by the Act, and requested budgets under the Initiative for all participating agencies in Fiscal Years 2006 â 2015 totaled over $1 billion each.
In February 2014, the National Nanotechnology Initiative released a Strategic Plan outlining updated goals and "program component areas" [3]," as required under the terms of the Act. This document supersedes the NNI Strategic Plans released in 2004 and 2007.
The NNI's budget supplement proposed by the Obama administration for Fiscal Year 2015 provides $1.5 billion in requested funding. The cumulative NNI investment since fiscal year 2001, including the 2015 request, totals almost $21 billion. Cumulative investments in nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety research since 2005 now total nearly $900 million. The Federal agencies with the largest investments are the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.[7]
The four primary goals of NNI are:[8]
Advance a world-class nanotechnology research and development program;
Foster the transfer of new technologies into products for commercial and public benefit;
Develop and sustain educational resources, a skilled workforce, and a dynamic infrastructure and toolset to advance nanotechnology; and
Support responsible development of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives
Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives (NSIs) spotlight areas of nanotechnology where significant advances in nanoscale science and technology can be made with the focus and cooperation of participating agencies. NSIs accelerate research, development, and application of nanotechnology in these critical areas.[9]
As of December 2020, the current NSIs are:[9]
NSI: Water Sustainability through Nanotechnology â Nanoscale Solutions for a Global-Scale Challenge,
NSI: Nanotechnology for Sensors and Sensors for Nanotechnology â Improving and Protecting Health, Safety, and the Environment,
NSI: Sustainable Nanomanufacturing - Creating the Industries of the Future,
NSI: Nanoelectronics for 2020 and Beyond.
NSIs are dynamic and are retired as they achieve their specified goals or develop an established community they no longer require the spotlight provided as a NSI. Retired NSIs are:[9]
NSI: Nanoelectronics for 2020 and Beyond,
NSI: Nanotechnology for Solar Energy Collection and Conversion - Contributing to Energy Solutions for the Future,
NSI: Nanotechnology Knowledge Infrastructure - Enabling National Leadership in Sustainable Design.
Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges
A nanotechnology-inspired grand challenge (GC) is an ambitious goal that utilizes nanotechnology and nanoscience to solve national and global issues. The first and current GC was announced in October 2015 after receiving input and suggestions from the public. As of December 2020, the grand challenge is:[10]
A Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenge for Future Computing: Create a new type of computer that can proactively interpret and learn from data, solve unfamiliar problems using what it has learned, and operate with the energy efficiency of the human brain.
Departments and agencies with nanotechnology R&D budgets:
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Department of Commerce (DOC)
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
Economic Development Administration (EDA)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Agricultural Research Services (ARS)
Forest Service (FS)
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Other participating departments and agencies:
Department of Education (DOEd)
Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Department of State (DOS)
Department of the Treasury (DOTreas)
Intelligence Community (IC)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC)
A basic definition: Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced.
In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products.
In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products.
Who discovered Nanotechnology?
In 1953, the discovery of DNA, the biochemical blueprint for life, spawned many notions and techniques of modern nano self-assembly. Man-made genetic codes and applications underlie many public policy concerns like genetic engineering and its evil step sister, bioterrorism. In a 1959 lecture, Nobel physicist Richard Feynman suggested that one might manipulate matter at the atomic scale, assembling "nano-machines" by direct manipulation of atoms.Von Neumann envisioned self-replicating machines, prompting Eric Drexler, of the Foresight Institute, to link the DNA blueprint concept with the nano-machine concept, yielding fantastic sci-fi-like predictions like grey goo, an imagined man-made or accidental life-like self-replicating nano-organism that devours the world as it uses almost anything to make more of itself. [...]
Also present : Dr. David Baltimore (born 1938) /
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Dr. Moore, President Baltimore; to the faculty and students at Caltech, and to people involved in NASA's JPL out here. I want to thank Representatives Dreier, Baca and Millender-McDonald for coming with me today, and for the work they do in your behalf back in Washington. I want to thank three members of our Science and Technology team for being here -- my Science Advisor Neal Lane; Dr. Rita Colwell, the NSF Director; and my good friend, the Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, who has done a great job with our national labs to keep them being innovators in fields from computational science to environmental technology.
One person who would have liked to have been here today and I can tell you thinks that he would be a better representative of our administration on this topic is the Vice President. When we took office together, the fact that I was challenged scientifically and technologically was standing joke. (Laughter.) And he wants all of you to know that he's campaigning all over the country with a Palm 7 on his hip. (Laughter.)
He wants you to know that he loves science and technology so much, he's not even angry that Caltech beat out Harvard for top spot in the U.S. News rankings this year. (Laughter.) I think it has something to do with the relative electoral votes of California and Massachusetts. (Laughter.)
But before I came out here I told Dr. Moore and Dr. Baltimore that it was a real thrill for me to meet Dr. Moore, that even I knew what Moore's Law was; and that before the Vice President became otherwise occupied, we used to have weekly lunches and I'd talked to him about politics and he'd give me lectures about climate change.(Laughter.)
But we once got into this hilarious conversation about the practical applications of Moore's Law, like it explains why every cable network can double the number of talk shows every year that no one wants to listen to. (Laughter.) And so it's a real thrill for me to be here. (Laughter.)
Actually, I come with some trepidation. An eight-year-old child met me at the airport, and she and her brother came with their father, who is a friend of mine, and she brought me a letter from her third grade class. And the letter had all these questions: What was your favorite book when you were in the third grade? What did you collect then? What do you collect now? And one of the questions was, are you ever nervous when you're speaking before large audiences.
And the answer -- and I was writing all these answers so we could type up a letter -- I said, not usually. But I mean, I'm sort of nervous here today. (Laughter.) And I told somebody I was nervous, one of the wags back at the White House with a sense of humor, and he said, well, you know the Einstein millennial story, don't you -- trying to help me get unnervous. (Laughter.) I said, so I said, no -- you always learn to be patient in the face of other people's jokes. It's one of the great social skills that an American can develop. (Laughter.)
So I said, no. And he said, well, God decides to give America a millennial gift, and the gift is to send Einstein back to Earth for a few days to talk to ordinary folks, because he was the greatest brain of the last millennium. And they have the first meeting in a nice little hall like this. And it's absolutely packed, and these three big, burly guys push their way to the front, shoving everyone else to the side. So Einstein politely takes them first and he says to the first guy, well, what's your IQ, young man? And he said 240. He said wonderful, let's talk about how I thought up the theory of relativity. And they have a terrific conversation.
The second guy, he says, what's your IQ? He said, 140. He said, let's talk about globalization and its impact on climate change. And they had a terrific conversation. And the third guy kind of hung his head, and he said, what's your IQ? And he said, 40. And Einstein said, oh, don't worry. You can always go into politics. (Laughter.)
I want you to know, though, in preparation for this day I've been spending a lot of time trying to get in touch with my inner nerd. (Laughter and applause.) And my wife helped me, because she's been having these Millennium Lectures at the White House to discuss big things. And the other night, she had Vince Cerf, who was one of the founders of the Internet, and Eric Lander, who's helped to develop many of the tools of modern genome research. And that really got me thinking, and I want to say some more serious things about that in a moment. And then my staff challenged me to actually order Christmas gifts over the Internet. And I did that. And while doing that, I learned that with just a click of a mouse, I could actually order -- and I did this, I'm embarrassed to say -- I ordered Arkansas smoked ham and sausage delivered to my door. (Laughter.) So I think the 21st century has more for me than I had originally thought. (Laughter.)
As all of you know, Albert Einstein spent a lot of time here at Caltech in the 1930s. And three weeks ago, Time Magazine crowned him the Person of the Century. The fact that he won this honor over people like Franklin Roosevelt and Mohandas Gandhi is not only an incredible testament to the quantum leaps in knowledge that he achieved for all humanity, but also for the 20th century's earth-shaking advances in science and technology.
Just as an aside, I'd like to say because we're here at Caltech, Einstein's contributions remind us of how greatly American science and technology and, therefore, American society have benefitted and continue to benefit from the extraordinary gifts of scientists and engineers who are born in other countries, and we should continue to welcome them to our shores. (Applause.)
But the reason so many of you live, work and study here is that there are so many more questions yet to be answered: How does the brain actually produce the phenomenon of consciousness? How do we translate insights from neuroscience into more productive learning environments for all our children? Why do we age -- the question I ponder more and more these days. (Laughter.) I looked at a picture of myself when I was inaugurated the first time the other day, and it scared me to death. (Laughter.) And so I wonder, is this preprogrammed, or wear and tear? Are we alone in the universe? What causes gamma ray bursts? What makes up the missing mass of the universe? What's in those black holes, anyway? And maybe the biggest question of all: How in the wide world can you add $3 billion in market capitalization simply by adding .com to the end of a name? (Laughter.)
You will find the answers to the serious questions I posed and to many others. It was this brilliant Caltech community that first located genes on chromosomes and unlocked the secrets of chemical bonds and quarks. You were the propulsive force behind jet flight and built America's first satellites. You made it possible for us to manufacture microchips of ever-increasing complexity and gave us our first guided tour on the surface of Mars. With your new gravitational wave observatory, you will open an entirely new window on the mysteries of the universe, observing the propagating ripples which Einstein predicted 84 years ago.
Today, I came here to thank you for all you're doing to advance the march of human knowledge and to announce what we intend to do to accelerate that march by greatly increasing our national investments in science and technology.
The budget I will submit to Congress in just a few days will include a $2.8 billion increase in our 21st century research fund. This will support a $1 billion increase in biomedical research for the National Institutes of Health; $675 million, which is double the previous largest dollar-increase for the National Science Foundation in its entire 50-year history; and major funding increases in areas from information technology to space exploration to the development of cleaner sources of energy.
This budget makes research at our nation's universities a top priority, with an increase in funding of more than $1 billion. University-based research provides the kind of fundamental insights that are most important in any new technology or treatment. It helps to produce the next generation of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs. And we intend to give university-based research a major lift.
The budget supports increases not only in biomedical research, but also in all scientific and engineering fields. As you know, advances in one field are often dependent on breakthroughs in other disciplines. For example, advances in computer science are helping us to develop drugs more rapidly, and to move from sequencing the human genome to better understanding the functions of individual genes.
My budget supports a major new national nanotechnology initiative worth $500 million. Caltech is no stranger to the idea of nanotechnology, the ability to manipulate matter at the atomic and molecular level. Over 40 years ago, Caltech's own Richard Symonds asked, what would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them? Well, you can see one example of this in this sign behind me, that Dr. Lane furnished for Caltech to hang as the backdrop for this speech. It's the Western hemisphere in gold atoms. But I think you will find more enduring uses for nanotechnology.
Just imagine, materials with 10 times the strength of steel and only a fraction of the weight; shrinking all the information at the Library of Congress into a device the size of a sugar cube; detecting cancerous tumors that are only a few cells in size. Some of these research goals will take 20 or more years to achieve. But that is why -- precisely why -- as Dr. Baltimore said, there is such a critical role for the federal government.
[...]
Far too many of our citizens think science is something done by men and women who are in white lab coats behind closed doors that somehow leads to satellite TV and Dolly the sheep. And it's all a mystery. It is our responsibility to open the world of science to more of our fellow citizens; to help them understand the great questions science is seeking to answer and to help them see how those answers will actually affect their lives and their children's lives in profoundly important and positive ways.
First, we have to make sure Americans understand the contributions science and technology are making right now to the present level of economic growth, something Dr. Baltimore referred to. For example, because of our early investments in the Internet, America now leads the world in information technology, an industry that now accounts for a third of our economic growth, although only 8 percent of our work force; that generates jobs that pay 80 percent more than the private sector average.
If you look at that -- what does that mean to ordinary people, and what does it mean to the nature of the economy we're living in? I have never told the American people that we had repealed the ordinary laws of supply and demand, or the business cycle. But we have stretched them quite a lot.
In February, next month, we will have the longest economic expansion in the history of the United States -- outstripping even those that required full mobilization for war. Now, part of that is because we have pursued, I believe, sound policies -- to get rid of the deficit; to start running surpluses, the first back-to-back surpluses in 42 years; to keep our markets open, with 270 trade agreements; to argue, as I have, that not only exports are benefited by open markets, we also benefit from the imports, because they're a powerful brake on inflation and allow us to continue to grow.
[...]
I have proposed in this budget a 36 percent increase in information technology research alone, so that researchers will be able to tackle a wide array of other challenges. How do we find, precisely, the piece of information we're looking for in an ever-larger ocean of raw data. How do we design computers that are usable by everyone including people with disabilities.
One of the most fascinating relationships I've developed -- we were talking on the plane ride out here about one of the great things about being President is nearly anybody will come to talk to you -- once, anyway. (Laughter.) And we were talking about all the people I had been privileged to meet in the last seven years. You know, I have developed quite a good personal friendship with Steven Hawking, who, as all of you know, has lived longer with Lou Gehrig's disease, as far as we know, than any person who's ever lived -- partly, I am convinced, because of not only the size of his brain, but the size of his heart. But it is fascinating to see what technology has permitted this man to do.
Just a few years ago, he could have had the biggest brain in the world, and no one could have known it, because it could not have gotten out. There is no speaking capacity, almost no movement left. He can just move his thumb, and hold in his hand this remarkable little tracer that goes through a whole dictionary of words that he has, that he runs through with rapid speed. He picks the word he wants, puts the sentences together, and then an automated voice tells you what he just said.
How can we make it even easier for him? How can we make it even easier for other people? This will be a huge issue. Make no mistake about it, the liberation of Americans with disabilities is also in no small measure the product of the revolution in science and technology.
There are also other uses. I read the other day that manufacturers are soon going to introduce a refrigerator that can scan the bar codes of empty packages and expired goods -- (laughter) -- and order new groceries for you over the Internet. (Laughter.) Now, everybody who's ever poured out a carton of bad milk will love this. (Laughter.) You don't have to smell your bad milk anymore. It won't be long before the computer will refuse to order what's bad for you -- (laughter) -- and only pick items off Dean Ornish's diet. And then we'll all be in great shape. (Laughter.)
The second thing I think we have to do is let Americans know how investments in science and technology, broadly stated, will allow us to lead longer, healthier lives. Everybody knows now that you can put money into cancer research -- and thank God we've discovered two of the genes that are high predictors of breast cancer, for example, in the last couple of years -- but we need for more Americans to understand why we need a broad research agenda in science and technology, for the health of Americans. (Applause.)
In the 20th century, American life expectancy went from 47 years to almost 77 years, thanks to penicillin and vaccines for many childhood diseases. We were talking the other day about the impact -- I'm old enough to remember the first polio vaccine. And I remember how our mothers herded us in line and made us stand there waiting for our shot. And it was like they were all holding their breath, praying and hoping that we would get our shot before we got polio. It's something that young people today can hardly imagine, but it hung like a cloud over the families of my parents' generation. Now, we have this incredible life expectancy -- today, the average American who lives to be 65 has a life expectancy of 83 -- already. And we are clearly on the cusp of greater advances.
Later this year, researchers expect to finish the first complete sequencing of the genome -- all 3 billion letters and 80,000 genes that make up our DNA code. Since so many diseases have a genetic component, the completion of this project will clearly lead to a revolution in our ability to detect, treat and prevent many diseases. For example, patients with some forms of leukemia and breast cancer soon may receive sophisticated new drugs that elegantly actually target the precise cancer cells with little or no risk to healthy cells. That will change everything.
Our new trove of genomic data may even allow us to identify and cure most genetic diseases before a child is even born. Most people just take it as a given now that within the next few years, when young mothers bring their babies home from the hospital, they will bring along a genetic map of their children's makeup, what the problems are, what the challenges are, what the strengths are. It will be scary to some extent, but it also plainly will allow us to raise our children in a way that will enhance the length and quality of their lives.
But it's important to recognize that we never could have had the revolution in the genome project without the revolution in computer science as well, that they intersected. Research at the intersection between biomedical research and engineering will also lead to amazing breakthroughs. Already, scientists are working on -- we've seen it on television now -- an artificial retina to treat certain kinds of blindness, and methods of directly stimulating the spinal cord to allow people who are paralyzed to work. Now, you think of that.
Last year, for the first time, to give you an idea of the impact of technology on traditional medical research, last year, for the first time, medical researchers transplanted nerves from the limbs to the spine of a laboratory animal that had its spine severed and achieved movement in the lower limbs for the first time. That had never happened before.
Now, because of advances in the intersection between science and engineering, we may not have to keep working on that. We may actually be able to program a chip that will stimulate the exact movements that were prevented by the severing or the injury of a spine. And all the people that we have seen hobbled by these terrible injuries might be able to get up and walk. Because there was medical research, yes, but there was also research on the engineering, nonbiological components of this endeavor. We have to do a better job of explaining that to the American people.
Third, advances in science and technology are helping us to preserve our environment in ways that preserve more sustainable and widespread economic growth. And that is very important. Let me just give you an example. Not far from here in Southern California, a couple years ago the Department of Energy, working with the National Homebuilders and HUD, helped to construct a moderate- and low-income housing community, with glass in the windows that keeps out four or five times as much heat or cold, and lets in even more light. And that, coupled with the latest insulation technology and the latest lighting in the house, enabled the houses to be marketed to people of modest incomes, with the promise that their electric bills would average 40 percent below what they would in a home of that size built in the traditional manner. I can tell you that after two years, the power bills are averaging 65 percent less. And we can't build enough houses for the people that want them.
The Detroit Auto Show this year is showcasing cars that, I'm proud to say, were developed as part of our partnership for new generation vehicles that the Vice President headed up, and we started way back in '93. We brought in the auto workers and the auto companies and we said, look, instead of having a big fight about this, why don't we work together and figure out how to use technology to dramatically increase mileage. And a lot of you are probably familiar -- they're using fuel-injection engines, which cuts a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions; some using developed mixed-fuel cars that start on electricity, switch to fuel after you reach a certain stage, and then go back to electricity when you slow down back to that speed, because 70 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions are used in starting and stopping cars.
And there are all kinds of other things being developed. But this year the Detroit Auto Show has cars making 70, 80 miles a gallon, that are four-seater cars, that will be on the market in a couple of years. You can buy Japanese cars this year on the market that get about 70 miles to the gallon, but they're small two-seaters. Last year I went and saw cars that are 500 to 1,000 pounds lighter than traditional cars, and score at least as well on all the damage tests -- again because of the revolution in material science, with composite materials being used in the cars.
And the big thing that's coming up in this area is, before you know it, I believe we will crack the chemical barriers to truly efficient production of biomass fuels. One of the reasons you see this whole debate -- in the presidential campaign, if you're following it, you know the big argument is, is it a waste of money to push ethanol or not, if it takes seven gallons of gasoline to make eight gallons of ethanol. But they're on the verge of a chemical breakthrough that is analogous to what was done when crude oil could be transferred efficiently into gasoline. And when that happens, you'll be able to make eight gallons of biomass -- not just from corn, but from weeds, from rice hulls, from anything -- for about one gallon of fuel. That will be the equivalent therefore, in environmental terms, of cars that get hundreds of miles a gallon. And the world, the environmental world, will be changed forever. And that's -- one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions are in transportation.
Now, I just want to kind of go off the script a little to hammer this home, because big ideas in science matter. And once you make a big breakthrough, then thousands and thousands of things follow that have immense practical significance. But you must also know and believe that being in the grip of a big idea that is wrong can be absolutely disastrous.
So today, in Washington and in much of the world, there is a debate that goes something like this: The overwhelming evidence of science is that the climate is warming at an unsustainable rate due to human activity. And then there's this old idea, which says, well, that's really too bad, but a country can't grow rich or stay rich and sustain a middle-class lifestyle, unless every year it puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than it did the year before.
[...]
Our efforts to get India and China and other big countries that will soon surpass us in greenhouse gas emissions to cooperate with us, not in regulation, but in new technologies, to help them grow rich differently, always keep running up against the barrier of suspicious officials who believe somehow this is kind of an American plot to keep them poor. Why?
Because they're in the grip of an idea that isn't right anymore. It is simply not true that to grow rich, you have to put more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
So again, I say we have to do a better job of explaining the contribution that science and technology can make to saving the planet and allowing us to still have prosperous lives -- and, I would argue, to allow us to have more prosperous lives and better lives that would otherwise be the case, certainly within 40 to 50 years, if we don't act and act now. This is profoundly important. (Applause.)
Finally, I think we have to do a better job of having an open debate about the responsibilities that all these advances and discoveries will clearly impose: The same genetic revolution that can offer new hope for millions of Americans could also be used to deny people health insurance; cloning human beings; information technology which helps to educate children and provide telemedicine to rural communities could also be used to create disturbingly detailed profiles of every move our citizens make on line.
The federal government, I think, has a role to play in meeting these challenges as well. That's why we've put forward strict rules and penalties to limit the use and release of medical records; why we've worked with Congress to ban the cloning of human beings, while preserving our ability to use the morally and medically acceptable applications of cloning technology, which I believe are profoundly important; why we're working with the Internet industry to ensure that consumers -- consumers -- have control over how their personal information is used.
It's up to all of us to figure out how to use the new powers that science and technology give us in a responsible way. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. It is incumbent, therefore, upon both scientists and public servants to involve the public in a great debate to ensure that science serves humanity -- always -- and never the other way around. On this campus nearly 70 years ago, Albert Einstein said, "Never forget this, in the midst of your diagrams and equations: concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors." Today, at the dawn of this new millennium, we see for all of you, particularly the young people in this audience, an era of unparalleled promise and possibility. Our relentless quest to understand what we do not yet know, which has defined Americans from our beginnings, will have more advances in the 21st century than at any other time in history. We must be wise as we advance.
I told you earlier that the First Lady sponsored a Millennium Evening with Vince Cerf and Professor Lander. One of the most interesting things he said about his genomic research confirmed not other scientific research, but the teachings of almost every religion in the world. He said that, genetically, we are 99.9 percent the same. And, he said, furthermore, that the genetic differences among individuals within a given racial or ethnic group are greater than the differences between groups as a whole -- suggesting that we are not only our brothers' and sisters' keepers, but in fundamental genetic ways, we are our brothers and sisters.
And I leave you with this thought. I think the supreme irony of our time is that I can come here as President and have the high honor of discussing these unfathomable advances wrought by the human intellect, that have occurred and the even greater ones yet to occur, in a world where the biggest social problem is the oldest demon of human society -- we are still afraid of people who aren't like us. And fear leads to distrust, and distrust leads to dehumanization, and dehumanization leads to violence.
And it is really quite interesting that the end of the Cold War has marked an upsurge in ethnic and racial and tribal and religious hatred and conflict around the world; and that even in our own country we see countless examples of hate crimes from people who believe that others are different and, therefore, to be distrusted and feared and dehumanized.
You have the power to put science and technology at work advancing the human condition as never before. Always remember to keep your values at the core of what you do. And tell every one of your fellow citizens, and indeed people with whom you come in contact all across the world, that every single scientific advance confirms over and over again the most important facts of life -- our common humanity.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
https://www.forbes.com/2002/10/10/1010soapbox.html?sh=6417c9ec345d
2002-10-10-forbes-decoding-future-nanotech-investment-success.pdf
Pattern recognition is a fancy name for learning from the past. Investors use pattern recognition all the time. So do business people, politicians and military strategists. When they see certain things happening, they remember that in the past similar patterns had certain consequences.
Thus when President and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld see a nasty dictator acquiring dangerous weapons, they remember what happened when the world failed to stop an earlier nasty dictator from rearming. Similarly, when the Nasdaq index doubled and redoubled in just a few years, accompanied by talk of new eras and disregard of conventional measurements, experienced investors drew the correct conclusion: A dangerous bubble was forming.
I see in nanotechnology early signs of a promising pattern. We know from past experience that government funding for science and technology eventually creates a pattern wherein new ventures spring up and some of them prosper. And the government funding is already in place for nanotechnology. This newsletter is dedicated to helping its readers profit from this developing pattern.
Just as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funding fueled the growth of the Internet and the National Institutes of Health advanced the biotechnology industry, I anticipate that the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will yield a similar commercialization path for nanotech. The government is, in effect, plowing the field wherein private enterprise will sow the seeds.
The NNI finds its origins in grassroots efforts by program managers at agencies like the National Science Foundation in the mid-1990s. Tom Kalil, former deputy assistant to President Clinton for technology and economic policy and the administration's NNI point person, was one of the initiative's most influential advocates.
"Long term, nanotech can be as significant as the steam engine, the transistor and the Internet," says Kalil. "There is a critical role for government in areas of science and technology that are risky, long term and initially difficult to justify to shareholders."
Kalil said White House staff thought a nanotechnology initiative was a good idea for a number of reasons, including balancing the growing funding disparity between life sciences and physical sciences, training the next generation of U.S. scientists and taking an international lead in a transformative technology.
In January 2001 President Clinton introduced the NNI in a speech on technology at Caltech (the same place where Richard Feynman planted the seeds for nanotech 41 years earlier) and then mentioned it in his State of the Union address. But this was a nonpartisan venture: One of the initiative's backers was Newt Gingrich, who was Republican speaker of the House of Representatives at the time. Gingrich is now co-chairman of the NanoBusiness Alliance, which I co-founded, and he is an avid proponent for increased funding of basic scientific research.
From his car phone in D.C., Gingrich told me, "Those countries that master the process of nanoscale manufacturing and engineering will have a huge job boom over the next 20 years, just like aviation and computing companies in the last 40 years, and just as railroad, steam engine and textile companies were decisive in the 19th century. Nanoscale science will give us not dozens, not scores, not hundreds, but thousands of new capabilities in biology, physics, chemistry and computing."
What has already transpired since Clinton's Caltech speech is astounding. The NNI will be the most significant U.S. government-funded science project since the Space Program. Federal nanotechnology research funding has surged nearly sixfold in the past six years, starting from $116 million in 1997. My good friend Mark Modzelewski, co-founder and director of the NanoBusiness Alliance, says that money is not the only reason the NNI is a success.
"Before the NNI was started, corporate CEOs were not talking about nanotech," he said. "The NNI woke everyone up. It's incredible that this once-obscure science is now the buzzword amongst the leaders of the free world."
Perhaps the most fitting blueprint for nanotechnology comes courtesy of the most recent government-funded boom: the Human Genome Project. The Department of Energy first started funding genome research in 1986, and the National Institutes of Health joined it to officially launch the Human Genome Project in 1990. The goal was to find the estimated 100,000 or more human genes (scientists later learned humans only have 30,000 to 35,000 genes) and determine the sequence of the 3 billion units of DNA. Estimated cost: $3 billion over 15 years. Understanding how human genes work is expected to lead to breakthroughs in treating and preventing disease.
With private companies helping accelerate progress, in 2001 the Human Genome Project announced it would accomplish its objectives two years early. Administrators have already published a working draft and estimate the sequence will be 100% complete by next April. Expenditures for the Human Genome Project as of 2002 total $3.2 billion, and now the ball is really rolling.
With the pump thus primed, private enterprise rushed in, and in 2000 biotech boomed. Investors pumped billions into genomics-related companies like Celera Genomics , Incyte Genomics , Human Genome Sciences , Affymetrix and CuraGen . Their zooming stocks multiplied, creating tens of billions of dollars in paper wealth.
All this suggests the way the nanotech pattern will develop. As Mark Guyer, director of the Human Genome Project's division of extramural research, points out, one company reaped the lion's share of the government's capital flows: Foster City, Calif., tools merchant Applied Biosystems . It was the primary supplier of the high-speed DNA sequencers needed for genome decoding.
"As a ballpark estimate of the total money the National Genome Research Institute spent, my guess is that 5% to 10% went directly to Applied Biosystems for instrumentation purchases," says Guyer.
Genome research drove Applied Biosystems' sales from $180 million in 1993 to $1.6 billion in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Government-funded work is still a significant piece of ABI's business, consisting of roughly 50% of sales. Founded in 1981, ABI went public just two years later and was acquired in 1993 by Perkin Elmer.
Recognizing that ABI's 3700 DNA sequencer could dramatically pare the time necessary to sequence the genome, ABI's parent Applera formed Celera Genomics in 1998. Rather than wait for the publicly financed Human Genome Project, Celera used 300 new ABI machines to rapidly sequence the human genome and compile a comprehensive database for subscription sales. The Human Genome Project responded by accelerating its own pace and by buying roughly 200 ABI machines.
ABI had in effect set off a Cold War arms race in which it was the only weapons dealer in town. It emerged as the dominant equipment supplier to the genomics industry.
This bodes well for nanotech instrumentation vendor Veeco Instruments and modeling and simulation software leader Accelrys , which uses large libraries to help design new materials. Both dominate valuable sectors of research infrastructure for nanotech in the first few innings of the NNI build-out.
The NNI differs from the Human Genome Project because there is no single technology or common goal, like the genome project's race to sequence the genome. The NNI is essentially financing development of the basic nano-building blocks and instrumentation methodologies as the end applications are being determined.
This will require plenty of the kind of tools that Veeco and Accelyrs provide. In the Human Genome Project, companies supplying the necessary testing reagents, like Amersham and Invitrogen , also prospered. Following this pattern, I have no doubt that the mass producers of carbon nanotubes and other nano-building blocks--large chemicals players like Japan's Mitsubishi and Mitsui --will ultimately register considerable sales. The one problem is that margins will most likely shrink as a result of commodity pricing, so whether suppliers will be able to make a healthy profit is another question.
If history is any guide, Veeco and Accelrys will lead in the early stages, but they will need to change as nanotech comes of age. The infrastructure build will not last forever.
In biotech, ABI has tried to mitigate this risk by diversifying its revenue stream to include chemical reagent and array sales. Ultimately, the market shifts value from the means to the end. Those able to use the tools to create new products and devices are valued at a premium, while instrumentation companies' growth levels off. One reason Applera formed Celera to sell genomic information was out of the concern that the instrument business could be marginalized in the long term.
As the initial boom in the tools market crests, we will keep readers informed. Value will then accrue to widespread nanotech applications in biotechnology and IT devices. But that is some time away.
Excerpted from the September issue of Forbes/Wolfe Nanotechnology Report
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/12/20031203-7.html
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Home > News & Policies > December 2003
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 3, 2003
President Bush Signs Nanotechnology Research and Development Act
Today's Presidential Action
Today at the White House, the President signed into law the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which authorizes funding for nanotechnology research and development (R&D) over four years, starting in FY 2005. This legislation puts into law programs and activities supported by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), one of the President's highest multi-agency R&D priorities.
Nanotechnology offers the promise of breakthroughs that will revolutionize the way we detect and treat disease, monitor and protect the environment, produce and store energy, and build complex structures as small as an electronic circuit or as large as an airplane. Nanotechnology is expected to have a broad and fundamental impact on many sectors of the economy, leading to new products, new businesses, new jobs, and even new industries.
Background on Today's Presidential Action
Nanotechnology is the ability to work at the atomic and molecular levels, corresponding to lengths of approximately 1 -- 100 nanometers, or 1/100,000th the diameter of a human hair. Nanotechnology is not merely the study of small things; it is the research and development of materials, devices, and systems that exhibit physical, chemical, and biological properties that are different from those found at larger scales.
Nanotechnology is one of the Administration's top multi-agency research and development priorities.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, the President requested $849 million for nanotechnology R&D across 10 federal agencies--a 10% increase over the amount requested in FY 2003.
Nanotechnology research has been a priority for the Administration for the last three years. Overall funding for nanotechnology research has increased by 83% since 2001.
Nanotechnology promises to be both evolutionary and revolutionary--improving and creating entirely new products and processes in areas from electronics to health care.
Carbon nanotubes are essentially sheets of graphite rolled into extremely narrow tubes -- a few nanometers in diameter. Because of their nanoscale size and excellent conductivity, carbon nanotubes are being studied as the possible building blocks of future electronic devices.
Nanotechnology may one day enable the detection of disease on the cellular level and the targeting of treatment only to tissues where it is needed in a patient's body, potentially alleviating many unpleasant and sometimes harmful side effects.
Nano-manufacturing of parts and materials "from the bottom up"--by assembling them on an atom-by-atom basis--may one day be used to reduce waste and pollution in the manufacturing process.
Nanosensors already are being developed to allow fast, reliable, real-time monitoring for everything from chemical attack to environmental leaks.
Nanotechnology can help provide clean energy. For example, carbon nanotubes are a form of nanomaterial with many potential applications.
Woven into a cable, carbon nanotubes could provide electricity transmission lines with substantially improved performance over current power lines.
Certain nanomaterials show promise for use in making more efficient solar cells and the next-generation catalysts and membranes that will be used in hydrogen-powered fuel cells.
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nanoscale book
https://www.nap.edu/download/11752