Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
pressing, or letting other organisms do the job, for example, in the case of fer-
mentation and other biological conversions. With the advent of nanotechnol-
ogies, man has started to develop the ability to act at the nanolevel directly
and to interfere with the nanotechnology that nature through evolution has
devised and optimized. We now have the first basic abilities to modify spe-
cific biochemical processes and to create new functions or properties, and
science is rapidly developing more. Nanotechnology is an enabling technol-
ogy that will provide us with tools to do business at the nanolevel, although
at this point in time it is still in its infancy. The result will be that new and
improved food products will be developed that will benefit the individual
consumer, the society as a whole, and the environment (Moraru et al. 2003).
However, as with all new technologies, there are also drawbacks and risks to
be taken into account. These have to weigh up against the benefits; otherwise,
the public will not accept the applications of this technology in something
as basic and intimate as food and water, and provide a “license to produce.”
They will not buy the products, and their economic activity will not be via-
ble. Consumers are very critical with regard to food and water. Although
very few food products can still be regarded as unchanged by man, we want
to have the illusion that our food and beverages are natural and pristine.
Of course, they must also be healthy, tasty, and safe. In our modern society,
food must also be convenient, easy and fast to prepare, transportable and
storable, and must fit the cultures, lifestyles, and customs of the consumers.
Moreover, finally, we are beginning to become aware of our ecological foot-
print and focus more and more on the sustainability of food production and
consumption. Many of these characteristics are in direct contradiction with
each other, and technologies need to provide solutions to resolve the conflicts
and provide acceptable compromises. In this chapter, we will review most of
these aspects and the impact that nanotechnologies can have on them.
5.1 Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture
If it is to be any good to the consumer, food must be the product of biologi-
cal processes. In our industrialized society, the primary production of the
base materials and products mostly takes place at farms. With the exception
of the production of fish, only a very small part of our food supply is taken
directly from nature. The reason for this is that the farm is a unit operation
that allows optimizing some of the circumstances of the production. Over
the centuries, this has evolved to a state where farmers in greenhouses have
control over virtually all factors influencing the development of crops. Not
only can they push a crop to its maximum potential, they can even control
the moment the crop will be ready for harvest. This is, nowadays, common
practice in crops such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers. To what extent these
