Little Miss Muffett
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a nanoscale machine with biomedical applications
That sat down beside her
And chased a tumor she was growing away.
Yes, it might be possible within a decade or so to place a machine the size of a cell in the human body, specifically, for attacking a tumor or for enhancing healing. That’s both good news and scary news. First, the good news: Dr. Jinyao Tang says, “This technology is hugely important and is going to have a very big impact. It will be used to treat disease and to monitor health. It has been speculated about in science fiction for a long time and soon it will be a reality.”* What Tang and others have been working on might be called “synthetic light-seeking nanorobots.” Tang’s nanorobots can turn either toward or away from light, and they are made from silicon and titanium oxide shaped into nanowire and then further shaped into a “nanotree” of tiny bristles. Each of these is a light sensor.
Second, the bad news: It’s virtually impossible to keep the technology out of the hands of bad guys. So, there you are, sitting on your tuffet, eating your curds and whey protein powder, and along comes a nanorobot with bad intentions, a critter too small to detect set upon you by a bad guy.
In the modern world, no macroplace is safe from bad guys. Soon, no microplace will be safe. Our only hope is to convert bad guys with bad intentions into good guys with good intentions.
* Hong Kong University Publications: Belletin, March 2017, Vol. 18, No. 2.
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a nanoscale machine with biomedical applications
That sat down beside her
And chased a tumor she was growing away.
Yes, it might be possible within a decade or so to place a machine the size of a cell in the human body, specifically, for attacking a tumor or for enhancing healing. That’s both good news and scary news. First, the good news: Dr. Jinyao Tang says, “This technology is hugely important and is going to have a very big impact. It will be used to treat disease and to monitor health. It has been speculated about in science fiction for a long time and soon it will be a reality.”* What Tang and others have been working on might be called “synthetic light-seeking nanorobots.” Tang’s nanorobots can turn either toward or away from light, and they are made from silicon and titanium oxide shaped into nanowire and then further shaped into a “nanotree” of tiny bristles. Each of these is a light sensor.
Second, the bad news: It’s virtually impossible to keep the technology out of the hands of bad guys. So, there you are, sitting on your tuffet, eating your curds and whey protein powder, and along comes a nanorobot with bad intentions, a critter too small to detect set upon you by a bad guy.
In the modern world, no macroplace is safe from bad guys. Soon, no microplace will be safe. Our only hope is to convert bad guys with bad intentions into good guys with good intentions.
* Hong Kong University Publications: Belletin, March 2017, Vol. 18, No. 2.
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