Ā© Copyright 1998-2006, Robert A. Freitas Jr.
All rights reserved.
Nanomedicine may be defined as the monitoring, repair, construction and control of human biological systems at the molecular level, using engineered nanodevices and nanostructures.
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Basic nanostructured materials, engineered enzymes, and the many products of biotechnology will be enormously useful in near-term medical applications. However, the full promise of nanomedicine is unlikely to arrive until after the development of precisely controlled or programmable medical nanomachines and nanorobots.
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Such microscopic machines wereĀ first hypothesized by the Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman in 1959, and later were described at length by K. Eric Drexler in his popular booksĀ Engines of CreationĀ (1986) andĀ Unbounding the FutureĀ (1991), and in his more recent technical bookĀ Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and ComputationĀ (1992).
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Methods for designing and constructing these devices (or their most important components) are currently being actively pursued by theĀ Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, theĀ Laboratory for Molecular Robotics at the University of Southern California, theĀ Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University, theĀ NAS Computational Molecular Nanotechnology Group at NASA/Ames Research Center, and by many other university and government organizations in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and also in the private sector by nanotechnology startup companies such asĀ ZyvexĀ and nanotechnology seed capital firms such asĀ Molecular Manufacturing Enterprises Inc.Ā (MMEI).
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Once nanomachines are available, the ultimate dream of every healer, medicine man, and physician throughout recorded history will, at last, become a reality. Programmable and controllable microscale robots comprised of nanoscale parts fabricated to nanometer precision will allow medical doctors to execute curative and reconstructive procedures in the human body at the cellular and molecular levels. Nanomedical physicians of the early 21st century will still make good use of the body’s natural healing powers and homeostatic mechanisms, because, all else equal, those interventions are best that intervene least. But the ability to direct events in a controlled fashion at the cellular level is the key that will unlock the indefinite extension of human health and the expansion of human abilities.
Robert A. Freitas Jr.Ā is currently writingĀ Nanomedicine, the first book to comprehensively address the technical issues involved in the medical applications of molecular nanotechnology and medical nanodevice design.
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NanomedicineĀ will be published in four volumes. The book represents a preliminary attempt to explore the full range of nanomedical applications, along with some details of the required foundational technical competencies. An established biomedical book publisher,Ā Landes Bioscience, has been signed to produce all four volumes.Ā Nanomedicine, Volume I, was published in October 1999 and may be ordered directly either from theĀ publisherĀ or fromĀ Amazon.comĀ in the original out-of-printĀ hardback editionĀ or in the in-printĀ softcover edition.Ā Volume IIA: BiocompatibilityĀ was published by Landes Bioscience in October 2003.The anticipated publication date forĀ Volume IIB: Systems and OperationsĀ is October 2006.
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An early-versionĀ Outline, chapter summaries, and a sample chapterĀ fromĀ Nanomedicine, Volume I, byĀ Robert A. Freitas Jr.:
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NanomedicineĀ can be ordered now:
OrderĀ Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic CapabilitiesĀ from Amazon.comĀ out-of-print hardbackĀ orĀ in-print softcover.
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Volume I is available online at::Ā http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI.htm
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Nanomedicine, Volume I, has been reviewed by
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OrderĀ Nanomedicine, Volume IIA: BiocompatibilityĀ from Amazon.com
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Volume IIA is available online at:Ā http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm
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Nanomedicine, Volume IIA, has been reviewed by
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September 2000:Ā Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungĀ (FAZ)Ā interviews James Von Ehr II, Ralph C. Merkle, and Robert A. Freitas Jr. at Zyvex Corp., Richardson, TX, on Friday, 28 July 2000. (Article text in German)
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August 2000:Ā Interview with Freitas published by German newspaperĀ Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungĀ on 1 August 2000.
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November 1999:Ā Robert Freitas was selected by theĀ World Technology NetworkĀ as a Finalist for the World Technology Award in Materials “for his work at the Institute of Molecular Manufacturing, his recent text Nanomedicine, and his contributions to the field of nanotechnology.” The WTN website includes a briefĀ biography of Freitas.
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September 1999:Ā AnĀ interview with FreitasĀ appeared in Issue No. 38 of theĀ Foresight Update.
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The followingĀ nanomedicine FAQ and their answersĀ have been compiled by Robert A. Freitas Jr.
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Please visit the Nanomedicine Art Gallery. Here you will find a growing collection of historical and original visual artwork that shows how medical nanorobots and other nanomedical devices might appear.
AĀ compilation of articles on medical nanomaterials, bionanotechnology, or “nanomedicine”Ā from 1992 to the present. A few examples:
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Nanomedicine Research: Nanomedicine Researchers (with online biographies); Nanomedicine Research, Governmental, and Commercial Organizations
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You can directly support the research and writing of the Nanomedicine book series by contributing now to theĀ IMM Freitas Research Fund.
Nanomedicine, Volume I, was published in October 1999 and may be ordered directly either from the publisher,Ā Landes Bioscience, or fromĀ Amazon.com
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OrderĀ Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic CapabilitiesĀ from Amazon.com
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Nanomedicine, Volume IIA, was published in October 2003 and may be ordered directly either from the publisher,Ā Landes BioscienceĀ or fromĀ Amazon.com
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Ā© Copyright 1998-2006, Robert A. Freitas Jr. All rights reserved.
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