Watching for problems, as nanotech changes the world
Tiny, implantable devices filled with carbon nanotubes may someday help diabetics monitor glucose levels without drawing blood. Researchers hope that nanotubes--thanks to their strength, conductivity and light-emitting properties--will lend themselves to a range of similar "biosensing" applications. Photo and excerpt:
Michael Strano, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, NSF
See a detailed diagram for this image.
Nanotechnology involves engineering invisibly small particles – on the scale of atoms and molecules – to invent new devices and materials for society in this century.
And society is already beginning to incorporate nanotech’s contributions – in medicine, computing, and new materials. But all new technologies bring with them possible concerns. Earth & Sky spoke to Christine Peterson, Vice President of the Foresight Nanotech Institute about the possible hazards of nanotech, now and in the future. She said right now the new nano–materials top the list for possible concerns.
Christine Peterson: Just as with any new chemical, there can sometimes be problems with a new material. There are some concerns about certain nanoparticles. Will there be issues regarding how they interact with the environment or the human body?
Upcoming, said Peterson, are issues of privacy related to the development of nanosensors. These would be tiny devices used to detect substances, for example chemicals produced by our bodies, eventually maybe even DNA.
Christine Peterson: In the midterm, we’re looking at the proliferation of those sensors, what they’re picking up, who gets that data, and how that data is used.
And in the longterm, Peterson said …
Christine Peterson: We do need to look at potential military uses in weaponry.
Our thanks today to the National Science Foundation.
More with Christine Peterson from Earth & Sky:
How much nanotech is in your life already?
Expert says nanotech will bring us a more transparent world
What’s nanotech doing now, and how safe is it?
Nanotech sensors raise privacy issues
Nanotechnology pluses and minuses
No secrets in a future with nano sensors?
Our thanks to:
Christine Peterson
VP of Foresight Nanotech Institute
Imagine the kinds of weapons that could be developed using nanotechnolgy …. no, I don’t even want to…. How come we NEVER EVER see anything in the media about that?
Actually, Elissa, Earth & Sky has been trying for several years now to get someone to talk to us about nano weapons. Either no one is working on it … or they’re just not talking …
Like you, we also want to know.
Deborah
Yikes! I hadn’t even thought about the hideous new weapons – taking germ warfare to a whole new level. I guess, like Elissa said, it’s cuz you never hear about it in the news.
I was busy worrying about sunscreen!
Thank you Ms. Peterson, and Earth & Sky, for your wise alerts. It’s our job to keep abreast of possible concerns, and deal with them, as quickly as we accept wonderful new innovations in our lives.
Dang I thinks its crazy how bad stuff can happen!! Just IMAGINE!!
I wonder about how objects that are smaller than a cell will interact with cells? I assume that nano-particles are rare in nature, and that life has not developed any coping mechinisms to deal with them.
I mean, if something is small enough, two things could happen:
1) It could rupture, or pop, the cell walls. Killing the cell. If you breathed in a cloud of these, could they destroy your lungs? What happens as these things slowly accumulate in your body? I know that thousands of cells are killed every second on the surface of your skin, but nano particles have the potential to act on more than just your surface. What’s going to keep them from getting into your blood, and / or just slowly working their way through your body?
2) If it’s small enough, it could penetrate the cell walls without popping it. Then what’s to keep it from interfering with the inner workings of the cell? This seems a much more dangerous possibility than just simply killing the cell; it could interfere with what the cell does, or how it reproduces. Randomly cutting up the DNA and RNA, altering proteans. Causing mutations: cancer, tumors, etc.
I’m not even talking about little machines running around actively DOING things to your body, I’m just talking about the cellular equivalent of stepping on glass.
If something is small enough, it is basically sharp. Even paper can cut.
I’ve never heard this discussed, and if it’s NOT a danger, I’d like to know why what I’m talking about isn’t possible.
Nano-Technology has some positive applications as well in potentially combating serious diseases. But as in all things it is the intention of man, and the will of man that directs our choices. We have been given free will what we do with it and how we direct it is our destiny. So how do we control all this scary stuff from smart bombs to germ warfare? We have to start with ourselves and then help others become more enlightened citizens of the world. Unfortunately, many, many, of our global, political and commerce leaders are setting extremely poor examples. They put profit above humanity and survival on this beautiful, immensely unique planetary sphere. Each moment is an opportunity to start anew. Have a beautiful day :)