D Hanekom: World Nano Economic congress

23 April 2007

Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great honour and a pleasure for me to open this seventh World
Nano-Economic Congress 2007, held in South Africa for the first time.

It is safe to say that this congress will help set the global stage for
Nanotechnology to realise its breathtaking potential to make the world a better
place. We have witnessed impressive progress globally in the development and
application of this technology over a number of years. We are ready to begin
reaping the rewards of our investments. During the next two days you will
explore how the potential of things only dreamed of a few decades ago can now
become a living reality.

It was none other than Albert Einstein who said: "Imagination is more
important than knowledge."

Discovery is driven by dreams and imagination. Our species acquires
knowledge because we are hungry for it, we want to know how things work, and
why things are the way they are. Our accumulated knowledge has enabled us to
manufacture things that not so long ago existed only in the minds of the highly
imaginative, like flying machines, televisions, and even little battery
operated telephones that we carry around in our pockets (that annoy us when
they ring during conferences).

The new emerging power of nanotechnology, however, has the potential to
produce results that may not have featured in even our wildest dreams a few
years ago. To quote the author, Robert J Sawyer:

"The ability to build something from the most fundamental constituents is a
massive breakthrough. It is going to change everything."

The enticing promise of dramatically enhanced materials, unique drug
delivery systems and a potential revolution in manufacturing processes
persuaded a number of governments and companies to put substantial resources
into nanotechnology research and development.

A recent report by Lux Research, titled "Profiting from International
Nanotechnology," estimates that 12,4 billion dollars was invested in Nanotech
research and development worldwide in 2006, and over 50 billion dollars worth
of nano-enabled products were sold in the same year

This trend was highlighted last week by President Putin when he unveiled a 1
billion dollars initiative to develop nanotechnology and turn the Kurchatov
Nuclear Institute into the country's research hub for nanoscience. These were
his words: "This is a direction where the state will not begrudge any funds."
He went on to say that the way to wean the economy of oil and gas was to "think
small."

The important question is whether we have positioned ourselves well to take
advantage of this rapidly growing market, and whether we are able to harness
the massive potential of this technology to address some of our most pressing
developmental challenges. I have no doubt that you will use the next two days
fruitfully to identify both the wealth of opportunity that exists, and the work
that has to be done for us for us to position ourselves competitively.

In line with this global trend, we have developed our own Nanotechnology
Strategy. This strategy supports our national development goals and complements
other strategies, such as the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy, and
the Biotechnology Strategy. These strategies are meant to guide us in our work
and assist us in our goals of achieving a competitive, growing economy, and
improving the quality of life of all our citizens.

While this may seem small compared with most developed countries, the R450
million that has been allocated by our Treasury to implement the nanotechnology
strategy over the next three years reflects a strong recognition of the
importance we attach to this emerging technology. We have embarked on a series
of programmes aimed at enabling meaningful research and development in this
field. Two national nanotechnology centres will be established in the course of
this year, and they will serve as the hub of nanotechnology activities in our
country.

Human capital development also forms a very strong and integral component of
our implementation plan. The development of a highly trained human resource
base with research and development expertise will encourage the private sector
to develop nano-based products and services. Our human capital development
programmes include the use of the Department of Science and Technology's
Research Chairs Initiative, post-graduate programmes as well as bursaries for
students. The CSIR has taken the lead in this challenge: they are currently
training 19 Nanotechnology post-graduates students (three masters, three post
doctrines and 13 Doctors of Philosophy (PhD)).

With a growing cohort of students entering this exciting science of the
future, I am confident that we will be able to position ourselves to fully
exploit the vast potential of this new wave of technology.

As government, we are doing everything possible to pave the way for the
realisation of the full value of nanotechnology. However, the efforts of
government alone cannot be sufficient; we will never become a serious global
player without far greater investment by industry. Our industries can ill
afford to stand idle in the face of such massive increases in investments in
this technology by their counterparts in other parts of the globe.

It is for this reason that we welcome the platform offered by the World
Nano-Economic Congress to identify commercial and developmental opportunities
of Nanotechnology. Certainly with the quality of speakers, the series of
engaging deliberations and activities lined up for this event, this congress
promises to leave an indelible mark in the practice of nanoscience and
nanotechnology worldwide.

As we progress with the development of this technology, one of the questions
that should be uppermost in our minds is its envisaged socio-economic impact,
particularly of developing countries. How, for instance, will nanotechnology
help advance the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals? How will it
assist us in halving the number of people who suffer from severe hunger by
2015? Is nanotechnology able to assist us in our quest to halve the number of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation?
And can this technology help us achieve environmental sustainability and help
us tackle what is probably the greatest single challenge confronting the world
today, namely climate change?

We owe it to the millions of poor people worldwide to ensure that every step
we take gets us closer to a world without poverty and deprivation, and indeed,
nanotechnology does have the potential to contribute towards our ability to
achieve these goals in an unprecedented way. It is up to us to be bold and
imaginative enough to seize this opportunity.

One of the greatest poverty related challenges in our country is in the area
of health, and infectious diseases in particular. Annually approximately 250
000 new cases of Tuberculosis (TB) are diagnosed in South Africa, an incidence
that has doubled in the last seven years. This high prevalence is not exclusive
to our country; it is a major cause of death in the entire subcontinent, mainly
due to co-infection of HIV and AIDS, which accounts for 85% of tuberculosis
cases. In nanotechnology we may well have the answer to this debilitating
disease.

Although effective treatment is currently available, patients have to take
up to four anti-TB drugs several times per week for up to six months. As might
be expected, patient compliance is an ongoing challenge. In addition, the
current anti-TB drugs exhibit dose-dependent toxic side effects, and the poor
solubility of the drugs reduce their bioavailability, and they are easily
degraded prior to reaching the target site. The consequence is that treatment
failure is high. Furthermore, the emergence of drug resistance presents our
health research community with a formidable challenge: there is currently no
treatment for the drug resistant extreme drug resistant (XDR) TB.

To address these problems of bioavailability and dose frequency, the CSIR,
together with South African and international collaborators, has developed
unique biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric nano-carrier systems (50 to
200 nm in size). They have illustrated in vitro, that the encapsulated drug can
be protected from degradation, that the drugs when released in a slow steady
manner, enable the uptake and their subsequent release into cells. This
increases the bioavailability of the drugs at their site of action and would
thus reduce the associated side effects.

This work is currently being tested in animal models. Due to the slow
degrading and the slow release mechanisms of the carrier systems, drug release
can be prolonged through nano-based drug delivery systems, allowing for the
administration of drugs once in seven days, instead of the current daily
administration of drugs.

The same technology can be applied for malaria, HIV and AIDS and other
diseases where patient non-compliance is high. This is but one example of not
only the commercial potential nanotechnology holds, but the massive impact it
could have on the quality of life of people. The applications are almost
unlimited. To quote David Talbot:

"On a planet that's on the cusp of catastrophic climate change,
nano-engineered materials have the potential to make a real difference. Imagine
solar power cells that are far cheaper and more efficient; batteries that allow
for more efficient electric cars; components that make cleaner coal-fired power
plants. These and other applications are hardly trivial, they will save energy,
reduce pollution, and maybe go a little way to making sure Times Square will
not be under water for the next millennium celebration."

Nanotechnology is powerful, and it is up to us to ensure that its power is
harnessed towards useful ends. As suggested by the United Nations Task Force on
Science, Technology and Innovation in its 2005 report: "Innovation: applying
knowledge for development," careful research into the potential hazards of
nanotechnology has to be undertaken and appropriate regulatory systems have to
be designed for the realisation of the full benefits of this technology.

It is equally important to ensure that as we develop this technology we
remain conscious of the need to engage the public. We have to create a climate
conducive for public discourse to ensure acceptance of the technology by
society at large. As with all our scientific endeavours, we must keep our
public abreast of the trends and developments, the potential benefits as well
as the myriad of opportunities presented by nanotechnology.

Allow me to conclude, by expressing our appreciation to all of you for your
dedication and efforts to chart the way forward in Nanoscience by holding this
2007 Congress in our country. My sincere gratitude must also go to the CSIR and
Cientifica, for having organised this event. May you find the next two days
both riveting and rewarding.

It is my great pleasure to declare the World Nano Economic Congress 2007
officially opened.

I thank you all.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
23 April 2007