Just saw 60 minutes and a doc refining an invention uses gold nano particles to kill cancer cells. Another industrial/medical use for gold.
Sorry I missed it! There have been some interesting advancements with silver nanoparticles, too. So much so that Kitco has added "biocides" to their charts as one of the trackable categories of silver demand. It would really be something if medical demand for gold increased to similar levels.
Although some wastage would be expected manufacturing these nanoparticles of gold, I wouldn't expect the demand to consume enough gold to cause a blip on the chart. Most of the particles are only visible under an electron microscope of 100,000,000 X or better, as they have to penetrate cell membranes by being pulled in be surface receptors like viruses are. So they are about the size of viruses. Medically, I would expect their cost to be in the billion dollar/oz range after they are activated. Probably as a guess 10 oz of gold would provide all the nanoparticles the world needs or could afford. I am not shorting the medical possibilities of their uses which have great promises,I just do not think they will affect the price of gold except in the emotional sense. IMO. Jim