Effects of Nanotechnology on Health and Sanitation

Nanotechnology is already useful as a tool in health care research. In January 2005, researchers at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology used 'optical tweezers' - pairs of tiny glass beads are brought together or moved apart using laser beams - to study the elasticity of red blood cells that are infected with the malaria parasite (see Tiny tools tackle malaria). The technique is helping researchers to better understand how malaria spreads through the body.