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PREPARING FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY

Assembled with atomic precision, smaller than a red blood cell, medical nanorobots are designed to hunt down and kill human cancer cells, clear clogged arteries, provide oxygen during a heart attack and destroy invading bacteria. The Foresight Institute, which runs this site, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting exploration of uses of the ultramicro-machining techniques called nanotechnology. Focusing on medical uses of nanorobots, institute gurus host conferences on nanotech and publish a newsletter detailing the latest advances. Small enough to be injected into blood vessels, these cell-sized machines are built by methods like those used in computer chip manufacture. The lingo used in describing these robots is equally exotic. One cited article talks about "ecophagy by biovorous nanoreplicators." The art gallery of medical nanorobots is the highlight of the site. It contains illustrations of the little nippers in action devouring cancer cells, cleaning out arteries and in general having a good time down among our cells. Much is obviously speculative, but interest in nanotech is growing exponentially as progress zooms ahead.

Thu, 25 May 2000 00:42:08 -0700

Submitted by: Gary Hellermann