UC San Diego Professor Michael Sailor is on the forefront of nanotechnology research.

A tiny technology that comes with the promise of making cars more accident resistant, cancer therapies more precise, solar panels cheaper and computer operations faster has brought about big ideas in a relatively short amount of time.

But the study of nanotechnology, or designing and building functional devices on the atomic or molecular level, is still in its infancy, according to scientists.

American engineer K. Eric Drexler was first to coin the term “nanotechnology” in his 1986 book “Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology,” although American physicist Richard Feynman first introduced the concept in 1959. But it wasn’t until 2000, when the U.S. government launched the $1.2 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative, that it began gaining ground. The initiative paved the way for additional studies on the subject and helped the technology attract public interest.

Since that time, nanotech materials have made their way into antibacterial socks, golf balls, pacifiers and stain repellent clothing. But the push to manufacture nanomaterials on a larger scale has federal regulators worried about the potential impacts on human health and the environment. Carbon nanotubes, for example, have properties resembling asbestos, although it is unclear whether they present the same health effects to humans.

What’s missing is an international set of standards, according to Lloyd Tran, director of the California Institute of Nanotechnology based in San Jose and president of the International Association of Nanotechnology, a nonprofit organization aimed at fostering scientific research and business development.

“We believe nanotechnology has tremendous potential,” he said. “But quality assurance is a key for us if we want to expand the products worldwide.”

Tran presented scientists and industry observers with information about the progress made in nanotechnology during The Fourth International Congress of Nanotechnology and Clean Tech Congress 2007 held Nov. 5 to 8 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, San Francisco Airport.

The four-day event drew about 300 participants from a variety of scientific disciplines, along with California Sen. Leland Yee and Roger Kornberg, a Stanford University School of Medicine professor and 2006 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

New Wave

During opening remarks, Yee told conference participants they were the “new wave” of the industry.

“There is a lot of interest in trying to nurture your industry, the biotech industry, the clean energy (industry),” he said. “The mistakes that the government has made with the high-tech industry we are well aware of that … and we don’t want to repeat those types of problems anymore.”

According to the California Institute of Nanotechnology, productivity impacts from nanotechnology are expected to resemble those associated with information technology.

But whether nanotechnology will grow to become a “boom” or “bubble” industry remains unclear.