Nanotechnology - An Analysis based on Publications and Patents

This report aims to provide a bibliometric and patent study of the field of nanoscience and technology (NST) in the period 1992-2001. The report consists of two parts, the first one analyses the scientific literature in this field, the second part is concerned with the analysis of patents issued in NST. A central element of bibliometric and patent research in an emerging field like NST is its delineation through a suitable search strategy.

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This report contains both a bibliometric analysis and a patent analysis of the domain of biotechnology in Flanders. It is modelled after the template that has been developed by Steunpunt O&O Statistieken and that has been applied earlier to the study of nanotechnology. The template is based on a systematic analysis of the two main data sources, bibliometric and patent data, available at Steunpunt O&O Statistieken. Using the template, it becomes possible to analyse the status of any domain of technological activity and to assess its strengths and weaknesses in terms of publication and patent outputs.

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Embryonic or somatic stem cells are seen as promising therapeutic tools for the treatment of number of several severe human diseases such as leukemia, diabetes, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis and other degenerative diseases. Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been isolated from the mouse more than twenty years ago, and it is only during the last five years that human ES cells have successfully been isolated and propagated in a very limited number of laboratories mostly in United States, Australia, Israel and Sweden.

Somatic stem cells became also highly promising reagents in the past few years when a number of data suggest their potential for efficient differentiation into various cell types. In the hematopoietic system, somatic stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells) have been used for transplantation therapy for a long time. There is also number of studies which indicate that cancer takes place in somatic stem cells. This is particularly true in tissues with high level turnover such as skin, intestine, blood and human breast gland. Striking parallels can be found between stem cells and cancer cells and similar mechanisms may regulate self-renewal in those two cell types.

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