Prime minister questions researchers on nanotechnology

Prime Minister Paul Martin met with some of the world's leading nanotechnology researchers Tuesday to discuss everything from new diagnostic tests for Mad Cow Disease to the origins of humankind.

Pausing only briefly to speak with reporters after the meeting, Martin said his tour of the University of Alberta-based National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) was "very, very interesting." Martin had toured three NINT research labs before sitting down for a roundtable discussion with university and National Research Council researchers and administrators.

Afterwards, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan told reporters that, with the creation of the $120-million National Research Council facility on its campus, the U of A is home to one of five such facilities in the world.

"This is a place where, it doesn't matter if you are from India or China or Vegreville, this is the place to be," she said.

U of A President Dr. Rod Fraser said the conversation with the prime minister covered practical applications of nanotechnology, including research being conducted at the U of A that could virtually eliminate the threat of Mad Cow Disease.

Fraser said that U of A researchers Drs. Chris Backhouse and Linda Pilarski are developing lab-on-a-chip technology that could lead to live testing of cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy within four years.

"We might be able to test every cow for misfolded proteins," Fraser told reporters. "This would be a really fundamental breakthrough."

"There was considerable interest in it," Pilarski said, referring to the prime minister's reaction to the research. "He seemed very interested in how we can take basic science and make it accessible and beneficial to the people of Canada, so they get the benefits economically and in terms of health care. That seemed a real priority for him."

"He was really pushing the scientists, asking them what nanotechnology is going to tell us . . . and what is nanotechnology going to contribute to our quality of life," said NINT director Dr. Nils Petersen.

Petersen said the prime minister also raised the fact that, while Canada is a world leader in research and nanotechnology today, it needs to consider where it will be positioned 25 years from now, as nations such as India and China expand in scientific capabilities.

While the meeting was scheduled to last just 20 minutes, the prime minister apparently became so immersed in the conversation he didn't want to leave. Instead, he extended the conversation another 20 minutes to discuss, in part, questions about the origins of life itself.

"He was asking all sorts of questions," said Dr. Bob Wolkow, a U of A physics professor who is also group leader of the molecular scale devices program at NINT. "He was asking where atoms came from. I told him the atoms he is made of used to be part of a dinosaur, and that gave him pause. I also told him atoms never wear out and that we are working on the ultimate green technology, that we are using the smallest molecules to make things and that those things will consume the smallest amount of energy. He seemed very interested in that."

Wolkow said he was impressed with the prime minister's interest and grasp of science.

"He was clearly engaged. He wasn't just walking through the paces, he was acutely interested. It's inspiring and gratifying to know the prime minister is aware of at least the salient issues in leading technologies and that he recognizes we need to invest now to thrive in the future."

Pilarski, an oncologist and Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Nanotechnology, had the same impression.

"It was really exciting to know we have a prime minister who is excited about science, who understands science. He clearly has a really insightful intellect."