We are organizing the world's first workshop devoted to nanotechnology grown or fabricated with the aid of microorganisms known as diatoms. Diatoms are single-celled algae that make exterior shells consisting of amorphous silica nanoparticles that are self-assembled into ornate, three-dimensional structures. About 200,000 diatom species are available, each of which possesses a unique shape with fine (meso-to-nanoscale) features. The objective of this Workshop is to explore the utilization of diatoms, or diatom-derived structures, in nanotechnology. The Workshop will be part of the 17th North American Diatom Society meeting organized by Evelyn Gaiser, Southeast Environmental Res. Ctr., Florida International University), October 21-26, 2003, at a field station on the Florida Keys. It will provide a unique opportunity for nanotechnologists and diatomists to interact and jumpstart this highly interdisciplinary emerging field of research and development. Papers, in the form of reviews and tutorials, will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, edited by Richard Gordon (Canada), Frithjof A.S. Sterrenburg (Netherlands) and Ken Sandhage (USA). Every group known to us, working on diatom nanotechnology, will be represented. The purpose of the Diatom Nanotechnology Workshop is to get an eclectic, interdisciplinary group of researchers (diatomists, chemists, genome sequencers, nanotech engineers, etc.), who otherwise might never meet, together for a dynamic exchange of ideas. The list of applications envisaged includes microcapsules for medications, water filters, catalytic substrates, sensors, optical gratings and actuators. The major advantages of diatoms over current practice is: 1) direct production of 3D structures instead of the layer by layer techniques prevalent in nanotechnology; 2) exponential increase by self-reproduction of the diatoms to produce huge numbers of any component; 3) availability of mutation, genetic engineering, and evolution (by deliberate selection) to alter the structures diatoms produce.
