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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Articles

Diagnostic Method Rivals PCR

Steve Clark writes of a new DNA nanotechnology diagnostic method: "Bio-bar-Code Amplification (BCA) is a new diagnostic method that now rivals PCR. BCA can also scan a sample for many different disease targets simultaneously. This new technology, based on gold nanoparticles and DNA, is easier to use, faster, more accurate, and less expensive, making it a leading candidate in point-of-care diagnostics. The Northwestern University team demonstrated it can detect as few as 10 DNA molecules in a matter of minutes, and believes it can be commercially available for certain diseases in one year. Additional info can be found on the Press Release."

When Energy Rhymes With Nanotechnology

Roland Piquepaille writes "Let's face it. Our computing devices are going faster year after year. But our laptop batteries don't show the same performance improvement. They still work only for a few hours, just a little bit more than ten years ago. Several companies want to change this, according to this UPI report, "Nanotechnology improving energy options." For example, mPhase Technologies plans to introduce smart batteries based on millions of silicon nanotube electrodes. These nanobatteries, to be introduced before the end of 2005, will last longer than traditional ones and will be respectful of our environment. Meanwhile, Konarka Technologies wants to reduce the weight of batteries with its flexible solar-fueled nanobatteries. You'll find more details and pictures in this overview."

NanoBusiness Alliance more favorable to MNT?

Steve Clark writes "Foresight director Glenn Reynolds has previously written several pessimistic articles on the Nanobusiness Alliance's views on molecular manufacturing. His latest article points toward a refreshing change: "It looks to me as if the industry has avoided a serious mistake, and that it has done so before its earlier approach led to disaster." Included is a quote from Smalltimes: "Modzelewski, normally an outspoken Drexler critic, was unusually courtly toward the group. 'Foresight has created some frameworks and guidelines for going forward that people should be looking at,' he said." Here's the complete article."

Will BioCDs Catch Our Diseases?

Roland Piquepaille writes "Strictly speaking, it's not about nanomedicine, but it's close enough, because it concerns our future, so I think it's appropriate to give you this kind of information. A revolution in medical testing will soon come to a doctor's office near you, thanks to a simple CD player. A team of Purdue University scientists led by physicist David Nolte devised a method to create analog CDs which will be able to screen thousands of proteins in your blood for potential diseases while you wait. You will no longer have to wait for weeks before getting the results provided by a specialized lab. Still, expect a few years before this technology comes to your physician's office. In "BioCDS could hit No. 1 on doctors' charts," Nolte says that "it will be at least 10 years before doctors have Bio-CDs at their disposal." You'll find more details, pictures and references in this overview."

Nano Body Building

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article from Backbone Magazine, Douglas Mulhall, author of "Our Molecular Future" tells us about the future of nanomedicine. He thinks that medical diagnosis will be the first successful steps, involving nanorobots which will raise alerts when they detect pre-cancerous cells. And twenty years from now, researchers envision that nanomedicine will be a trillion dollar industry. Around 2025, you'll pay $1,000 a year for a nanopill that will extend your life by suppressing heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases. Other scientists say that nanotechnology will be used to build synthetic bone and tissue, an opinion shared by Scientific American, which warns that growing replacement organs is still at least another 10 to 20 years in front of us. More details and references are available in this overview focused on how nanomedicine is going to totally take over healthcare in the 21st century. [Additional note: you can find former references to Mulhall's works on Nanodot, here or there.]"

Nano-lightning May Cool Future Chips

Jerry Fass writes "A Purdue University team has created a lithographically produced cooling microtechnology, with some nanometer size parts. As with many other micron scale systems, the prefix 'nano' is being used in some descriptions of it: 'Nano-lightning' could be harnessed to cool future computers… The device uses micro scale ion driven airflow, a weakly ionized plasma, to drive cooling air currents. Such principles may be useful if scaled down to molecular nanotechnology sizes, for cooling, or maybe propulsion."

The SkinChip, Because I'm Worth It

Roland Piquepaille writes "Cosmetics companies are always launching new products. And they are increasingly turning to nanotechnology to improve these new cosmetics. For example, L'Oréal introduced nanocapsules in its products since 1995. These nanocapsules release their active components when the skin's enzymes dissolve their envelopes. Now the company wants to closely look to your individual skin. It has developed a sensor on a chip, the SkinChip, in collaboration with STMicroelectronics. In "Skin Science," ScienCentral News says that the SkinChip takes very detailed images of your skin, up to the nanoscale level. The company hopes that it will help to tailor its products to individual customers. This overview contains more details and pictures."

A DNA Walking Robot

Roland Piquepaille writes "Two chemists from New York University, William B. Sherman and Nadrian C. Seeman, have created a DNA nanowalker with two legs, each one being 10-nanometers long. This nanoscale bipedal robot moves from one pair of anchors — strands of DNA — to another one. This is a major breakthrough for nanoscale manufacturing. And New Scientist says this opens the way for future nanoscopic robots that will assemble other nanomachines or manipulate individual molecules. Obviously, this is still at the experimental stage. Even the researchers don't say when such nanowalkers will be able to do some real work. More details are available in this overview."

More Nano Weapons to Fight Cancer

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article, the MIT Technology Review says that different new nanotools will help us to diagnose or kill cancerous tumors. 'Nanoshells' invented at Rice University could become an alternative to chemotherapy by killing only cancerous cells after injection into patients' bloodstream. And nanoparticles created at the University of Washington in Seattle could be used to noninvasively diagnose and treat brain tumors. Meanwhile, a biochemist from Brigham Young University has developed "a method for examining mutations in DNA to determine a person?s genetic predisposition for developing cancer." This overview contains more details and a diagram showing how nanoshells are conjugated with antibodies to kill cancerous cells. [Note: Previous results about nanoshells were reported here by Nanodot in February.]"

Will You Ride This Nano-Elevator?

Roland Piquepaille writes "Chemists from Italy and at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have built the world's smallest elevator. It is a molecular elevator, about 2.5 nanometers high and 3.5 nanometers wide. The molecular platform sits on three legs which can move up and down by one nanometer. The New Scientist and the New York Times (free registration needed) are both reporting about this nano-elevator. The researchers think this system might be used as a drug delivery system. Even if they're right, it will not happen before at least ten years. This overview contains some excerpts from the two articles mentioned above. It also includes a schematical representation of the chemical equilibrium between the two co-conformations of the molecular elevator."

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