from the very-small-cyborgs dept.
An article in The Arizona Republic of Aug. 06, 2002 Molecule-size machines the wave of the future, ASU scientists say reports that researchers at Arizona State University "think the body's billions of tiny machines are a key to a new field that has excited scientists, government officials and investors around the world."
At least to many scientists in central Arizona, it is no longer outlandish to suggest that nanotechnology will generate things like "'nanobots' that float through your bloodstream, seeking out plaque or malignant tissue," or to think that biological molecular machines "may help us figure out how to make nanotechnology work." See Nanodot July 13, 2002 for news of ASU's Biomolecular Nanotechnology Graduate Training.
Meanwhile across the country, a Florida State University press release of July 31, 2002, also trumpeted the benefits of working to join the biological and mechanical. Scientific Partnership Seeks Huge Benefits from Small Devices announces that "Scientists from FSU's biology department have teamed up with the physics department and the Center for Materials Research and Technology (MARTECH) to conduct ground breaking research incorporating biological matter into nano scale machines." The press release is short on technical details but reveals funding of several million dollars from the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
