Nano collaboration
An ambitious collaboration between two leading European nanosafety research projects has begun that will examine alternative test methods for nanosafety assessment using high throughput and 'omics' approaches. It is hoped this cooperation between two FP7 projects will speed up the development of important safety classifications for engineered nanomaterials (ENM), which are increasingly used in many industrial processes and everyday products. NANOSOLUTIONS and NANOMILE are both working on developing a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of nanomaterial interactions with living systems and the environment. This is vital work with the increased use of ENM and concerns about their possible risks to human health. NANOMILE is looking at this interaction across the entire lifecycle of nanomaterials and in a wide range of target species, and by identifying critical properties will allow these features to be considered during nanomaterial production, leading to safer design. Meanwhile, based on similar experimentation, NANOSOLUTIONS is looking to determine the 'biological identity' of ENM, and subsequently develop a computer programme that can predict from the properties of ENM their ability to cause health or environmental hazards. The overall objective is to develop a sophisticated ENM classifier that will provide risk assessment of ENM safety and so reduce the time and cost involved in testing every new ENM developed. It is hoped that this important collaboration will lead to the sharing of ideas and results, with the pooled knowledge leading to more efficient exploitation of these results. The first NANOMILE/NANOSOLUTIONS meeting will take place in Brussels on 24 August and involves work package leaders from both projects discussing: • Omics, modeling and data management • Material characteristics • In-Vitro and phenotypes • High-throughput screening • In-Vivo A nominated speaker will present each topic, with breakout sessions taking place that will develop ideas further. Each breakout group will then report to a plenary session. It is hoped that the exchange of ideas, opinion and experiences will lead to further collaborative opportunities. A further workshop is planned in 2016, which will be a much larger event involving all partners from each project with dissemination material planned for publication soon after. For further information about the projects, contact: NANOMILE Project manager: Tom Carney, email: t.carney@bham.ac.uk NANOSOLUTIONS Project Manager: Elina Drakvik, email: elina.drakvik@ttl.fi
Countries
Belgium, Finland, United Kingdom