Prince Charles may have dubbed nanotechnology a threat and a top-level Government committee may be calling for more stringent safeguards.

But scientists at Bradford University say the comparatively new science of manipulating matter on an ultra-small scale could revolutionise health care, speed up computers and herald new "smart" materials such as self-cleaning glass.

By ultra-small, scientists mean a millionth of a millimetre. Or 80,000 times thinner than a human hair.

A report from the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering agreed nanotechnology could bring in huge benefits but called for tighter regulations in assessing tiny particles.

Although the term nanotechnology is comparatively new, the science itself has been going on for years and Bradford has been at the forefront of this multi-billion-pound industry.

Pioneering scientist Dr Peter York set up a private company, Bradford Particle Design, in the 1990s. When he sold it a few years later it made him as rich as David Beckham.

Dozens of chemists, physicists and biologists at Bradford are involved in this cutting-edge work. The engineering department is manipulating plastics and metals for replacement human joints to act like human tissue. Other scientists are pioneering revolutionary wound repair techniques using nanotechnology.

At the new multi-million-pound Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation they are busy formulating new, more effective drugs to combat disease.

A small fortune in research grants has enabled them to spend £500,000 on a magnet so powerful it will erase stripes on credit cards at twenty paces. The magnet "maps" molecules to identify their distinct fingerprints.

Physicist Dr Morgan Denyer, who works for the institute's Drug Delivery Group, said the technology could change the face of pharmacy. It would mean smaller drug doses and better-targeted substances with fewer side-effects.

"This is particularly appropriate for treating cancers," said Dr Denyer. "There will be a reduction in dosage which is good, since most anti-cancer drugs are toxic."

Biologist Dr Nick Blagden said nanotechnology could see faster computers by using semiconductors made from organic materials rather than silicon. The smaller the materials, the more powerful they became, he explained.

Dr Blagden said existing controls of drug development were already comprehensive but he welcomed the new report's cautious approach.

"This is all about being responsible," he said. "It's a good thing to see the Government and the learned societies saying, 'Let's be sensible.'"

One touted fear about nanotechnology is that it could ultimately reduce the world to "nano-goo": "That's too much Star Trek," said chemist Dr Anna Nicolaou. "If it was going to happen it would have done so already."