What does nanotechnology mean? Well it involves understanding and working with materials on a level of size where they are billionths of a meter in size. At this size certain materials have very important qualities and can easily penetrate into other materials at a molecular or atomic level.

First let’s look at silver this metal has been used by many civilizations for centuries as a method of treating wounds and purifying water. Many cultures in our past including the Greeks and Romans have historical evidence of using silver to help treat wounds and infections. There is even a reference to King Cyrus of Persia in V BC who only drank water stored in silver containers. Many books including ancient Hindu religious books refer to dirty water being cleaned by placing heated silver into it for a short period of time. Burns were also treated with a silver solution and sometimes food was treated with silver to kill bacteria. Pioneers in America were known to put a silver coin, a dollar back then, into milk to preserve it longer before it went bad. Doctors began experimenting with medical uses silver and found various other areas other than wounds where it helped. Ulcers and fistulas that resisted other treatments were often cured quickly by using an application of silver water even ones that had been there for a few years. It was realized that silver not only had an ability to kill bacteria but also on a molecular level penetrated cells and aided regeneration of tissue. In 1920 the US government Food and Drug Administration endorsed the use of silver water in medicine and purification.