Professor Jim Gimzewski
Today was our last real day at the Sci|Art NanoLab Summer Institute. We mostly just worked on our “Imagine the Impossible” projects, which we are presenting tomorrow. However, this morning we had a quick lecture by Professor Jim Gimzewski, who had just returned from being inducted into the Royal Society. Professor Gimzewski talked about approaching and visualizing scientific ideas in an artistic fashion. He also pointed out that while knowledge is important, creativity and imagination are more important. In fact, these are what separate a good scientist from a bad scientist, according to Gimzewski. The lecture today highlighted what I see as the main idea of this program–– incorporating science into art and art into science. They cannot stand alone.
Over the two weeks here, we have been learning about upcoming inventions, as well as coming up with our own inventions. A great idea is always good, but one must be aware of the negative effects it could have. This reminded me about an article I read called “EarthTalk: The Risks of Nanotech,” in which Dan Zeff wrote to EarthTalk voicing his concern that nanoparticles are being put into consumer products, but not enough research has been done on their potential impacts on health. Currently nanomaterials are not even regulated in the United States.
Does the lipstick you use contain nanoparticles?
The lipstick you are using or the food you are eating could contain these materials and they might not even be safe. This idea brings me to my next topic of discussion, genetically modified foods, which one of Victoria Vesna’s students gave a demonstration on today.
Genetically modified strawberries
After getting a little introduction and drinking juice that we pretended was made from genetically modified fruit, someone took a cheek swab and we looked at it under the microscope. In short, there are risks with genetically engineered foods, such as they are unsafe to consume, the genes let into nature cannot be taken back, and environmental hazards cannot be assessed. Who knows where the future with nanoparticles in consumer products and genetically modified food will go. I just hope there are not serious health implication by products already on the market.
http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=113179
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-05/earthtalk-risks-nanotech
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1083102/The-beauty-creams-nanoparticles-poison-body.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-nanoparticles-in-food-pose-health-risk
http://www.celsias.com/article/genetically-modified-foods-unsafe-evidence-that-li/
http://www.ideaconnection.com/solutions/7098-Unsafe-genetically-modified-food.html