American Pie: It's The Little Things In Life
John Merchant brings a brief introduction to nanotechnology, a field of research spanning electronics, chemistry and medicine.
“Something in my gut tells me that nanotechnology will transcend the almost Merlinesque characteristics of contemporary drug therapies, and that the tiny dwarfs will truly be good for what ails us,’’ says John.
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Ever heard of a nano device? Don’t feel bad if you haven’t; you’re not alone, but rest assured that pretty soon now you will be introduced to the nano world, like it or not, and I’m not referring to the Indian car. “Nano” is a unit of measurement: one billionth of something, as in nanosecond or nanometer. The word is derived from the Greek “nānos” for dwarf. Well, the nanos I am writing about are about the littlest dwarfs you’ll never see.
“Nanotechnology” is the blanket term for a very diverse field of endeavor that spans electronics, chemistry, and most interestingly for you and me, medicine. In essence, nano technology is the means by which organisms can be manipulated at the molecular level. Nano devices are like machine shops, excavating machinery, trucks and robots, but so tiny that you would need an electron microscope to see them.
These, so-called, mechano-synthetic systems are designed to perform several basic functions. First they acquire raw materials from a predetermined external source, typically a liquid solution containing a variety of molecular species, selected to produce a required reaction. These are, if you like, nano trucks and tankers. Their second task is to process these raw materials through steps that separate molecules of different kinds, and place them in arrangements and locations where they will combine to form another organism.
Finally, nano robots can apply these new species to a site in a controlled position and orientation. So what does all this mean for you and me? Well, for most of it, not much in a direct sense. But what we will start to see, without realizing that the microscopic dwarfs have been at work, is smaller, faster computers, new, more effective drugs with fewer side effects, and new materials that we cannot conceive of right now.
But probably the most appealing promise of nanotechnology to ordinary folks like me is their potential for carrying out very specific actions within a patient’s body to cure disease, relieve pain and correct aberrant body functions.
Dr. Robert Freitas Jr., Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing believes that nano devices will eventually perform “The monitoring, control, construction, repair, defense, and improvement of all human biological systems, working from the molecular level; [and] the treating, and preventing of disease and traumatic injury, of relieving pain, and of preserving and improving human health using molecular tools and molecular knowledge of the human body.” Wow! Best of all, folks, we won’t even know.
Right now, much that seems possible from this emergent field is theoretical, but, like other branches of technology, progress is rapid, and already several companies have been formed in anticipation of the commercial availability of nanotechnology. Just this week I received a news release from the journal Angewandte Chemie International that reports on the work of a team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego; and Arizona State University.
The team has announced the development of a nanomotor that will power the nano trucks and nano robots etc. The language of the announcement by Joseph Wang and his associates is quaint, and requires the lay reader to make a bit of an adjustment in this “go faster” age. “These nanorods travel [extremely fast] about 75 times their own length in one second,” says Wang. “We are approaching the speed of the most efficient biological nanomoters, including flagellated bacteria” he added. I wonder what the Bacteria Protection Association has to say about that.
Joking aside, the reality of what he’s saying is that these “Gold, platinum nanotubes can travel at speeds of 10 to 20 micro meters per second.” When you reflect that a micrometer is a millionth of a meter, it’s kind’a like watching grass grow. But wait, the news release goes on to say that the research team has been able to accelerate these motors to over 150 micro meters per second by changing the fuel! You can almost feel the rush of the wind. Well almost.
I really shouldn’t joke about potentially the most significant, beneficial scientific advance in decades. Almost weekly we hear about another miracle drug or cure, and just about as frequently hear how the claims for previously announced “miracles” turn out to be less in reality, or just downright false. Something in my gut tells me that nanotechnology will transcend the almost Merlinesque characteristics of contemporary drug therapies, and that the tiny dwarfs will truly be good for what ails us.
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