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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Future Medicine

Nanotechnology used to destroy tumors in mice

Tim writes "Medical News Today has a short article about some interesting work being done with nanoscale 'shells' at Rice University. The study shows promising results in cancer treatment using near-infrared light to heat these shells once they have accumulated in cancerous tissue. The article can be found at Nanoshells cancer treatment proves effective in first animal test" Also, see similar article at BetterHumans: Nanoshells Burn Up Cancer in Animals.

'Lab-on-a-chip' to Detect Life Forms in Space

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are using 'lab-on-a-chip' technology for medical testing and are customizing them to use in space to detect bacteria and life forms on other planets. These chips will also be used to protect astronauts aboard a spacecraft by detecting microbes and contaminants. These microarray diagnostic chips are very small. They also are inexpensive because they share the fabrication technology used to print circuits on computer chips. Therefore, a Martian expedition will be able to embark a very large number of these chips to secure the mission. More details and references are available in this overview, which includes a photograph of a NASA biochip."

Nanorobotic Simulation

Svidinenko Yuri writes "Dear Colleague! We have new nanomedicine article about medical nanorobot's design and simulation. Article illustrated with several images, which explains nanorobotic design and functions. "Cell Repair Nanorobot Design And Simulation" Link: http://www.nanonewsnet.com/index.php?module=pagese tter&func=viewpub&tid=4&pid=2 Hope, this article will be interesting to your auditory. Sincerely, Svidinenko Yuri, NanoNewsNet analyst."

Fortune magazine considers the end of aging

Aubrey de Grey Would Have You Live a Really, Really, Really, Really Long Time describes the efforts of Aubrey de Grey (who spoke at the 2003 Foresight Vision Weekend) to bioengineer a nonaging human. "…it seemed that only seven things had to be prevented, mainly toxic byproducts of metabolism that accumulate in the body over time. 'I realized that we could bloody well fix them all,' he says. 'We could go in and periodically clean up the seven deadly things before they cause problems.'" (access to full article requires subscription.)

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."

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.]"

DNA nanocomputer, possible cancer treatment

With the latest in DNA nanotechnology, WillWare writes "Several news sources recently described work by Ehud Shapiro at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He and his team "have built a tiny biological computer that might be able to diagnose and treat certain types of cancer. The device, which only works in a test-tube, is years from clinical application… it can detect the abnormal messenger RNAs produced by genes involved in certain types of lung and prostate cancer… When the computer senses one of these RNAs it releases an anticancer drug, also made of DNA, which damps expression of the tumour-related gene." Shapiro has posted the PDF of his article in Nature which illustrates that detection of the abnormal RNA is a multi-step process, and that there is some real computation involved. It makes very interesting reading."

Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility available online

The second volume in the Nanomedicine book series by Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility, is now freely available online in its entirety at http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm First published in hardcover by Landes Bioscience in 2003, this comprehensive technical book describes the many possible mechanical, physiological, immunological, cytological, and biochemical responses of the human body to the in vivo introduction of medical nanodevices, especially medical nanorobots.

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.]"

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