Domestic nano sector prepares for an expansion

As nanotechnology emerges as a hot new sector - and in some cases, the new buzzword - in the world of alternative investments, the Czech Republic is struggling to compete with other countries in the region to become a major center for the expanding sector in a race experts say could encourage irresponsible development.

Nanotechnology is the science of developing new materials by manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale with structures sized between 1 and 100 nanometers. The materials can be used in products ranging from cosmetics to cancer treatments and photovoltaic technology.

"Nanotechnology surely is a prospective sector," said Štěpánka Filipová, a spokeswoman for CzechInvest. "We recognize there is huge competition among European countries in the field of attracting all sorts of high-tech investment. The Czech Republic wants to be among the top recipient countries for high-tech projects."

But experts who currently work in Czech-based nanotechnology companies say the country currently trails in attracting investment into higher technology sectors.

"There's a strong interest in nanotechnology, but unfortunately not really in the Czech Republic," said Martin Bunček, research and development director of Generi Biotech, a Hradec Králové-based facility that produces diagnostic kits and researches pathogen detection and nanostructures for the targeted transport of drugs. "This sector of research and innovative companies in the Czech Republic isn't really mature, and in comparison with Western companies, we still feel the 40-year lack of development."

The government has worked to boost the development of nanotechnology in the past three years, and since declaring it a priority in 2007, academic, government and EU grants and support have pushed the number of domestic nanotechnology projects to more than 140 at a total value around 115 million euros ($158.7 million/2.8 billion Kč), according to information from CzechInvest. Last year, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic was established, according to Bunček, who serves on the board, which will provide 7.35 billion Kč in state funds over an eight-year period in grants through its ALFA program dedicated to innovative technology, including nanotechnologies.

The advantage of producing goods using nanotechnology, and investors' interest, is based on the idea of developing materials that can't be found naturally on the earth, which in turn reduces dependence on natural resources and allows products to be produced more cheaply.

Currently, the major international leaders in nanotechnology are the United States and Japan, while growth in Europe has been slower, according to Stanislav Petřík, strategy and business development director for Elmarco, a company that sells laboratory units and industrial lines for producing nanofibers.

"The world market is still quite small, but it is expected to grow dramatically, and the potential is huge - but it requires some investment development," Petřík said.

When the company first started selling the machines in 2004, it only sold a couple of industrial lines per year, Petřík added, but now it expects to expand to 100 machines a year in the near future.

In the Czech Republic, development is mostly in the medical technology and advanced materials engineering, Filipová said.

The potential spike in nanotechnology investment that is forecast to hit Europe as the market grows has pushed governments and companies hoping to ride that wave of investment to mislabel products or overhype decades-old technologies as being part of nanotechnology development.

"To be honest, I have to say the word 'nanotechnology' is sometimes used as a marketing word," Bunček said.

Although his company continues to research new developments, the nanotechnology aspect is based on a technique of working with oligonucleotides (short nucleic acid polymers) that had been used long before nanotechnology became popular.

"Now everybody is trying to show they are doing nanotechnology, and the problem is because it's popular, the people who are speaking the most loudly about nanotechnology have the most money," said Vladimír Matolín, a professor at the Department of Surface and Plasma Science at Charles University who has written about nanotechnology.

And as is the case with any boom, there is concern about what the effect of rapid growth with little regulation could lead to, which in this case could include environmental and ethical consequences. Currently, the majority of countries, including the Czech Republic, do not have a regulatory framework for nanotechnology development.

Altering the structure of particles on such a small level, changes the properties of the material in ways that can be unpredictable and difficult for scientists, much less investors and legislators, to understand, Matolín said.

"They are much more reactive, because the principle is you are breaking the surface bones of the molecule," Matolín said. He said altered surface atoms make bonds with other atoms around them, which alters the shape and form of molecules. "There are a lot of parameters that can play a role, and some are difficult to control."

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com