168 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
168 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
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Nanotechnology:
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Manipulating Atoms One by One
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by Robert Kulagowski and Loretta Kulagowski
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To understand the complex world of nanomachines, a basic understanding
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of the components must be gained. By definition the word nanotechnology
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means
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"technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and
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molecules to build structures to complex, atomic specifications."
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Simply stated, this means using molecules to build larger, more complex
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structures.
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Even though nanotechnology is still in its infancy, it is being
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accepted more widely by the scientific community as something that is
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within the realm of possibility in only a few years.
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To begin to explain exactly what nanomachines are, it would be best to
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start with what they are made of. Normally, when people hear the word
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"machine", they tend to think of a large noisy object used to produce
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something. The literal definition of the term "machine" is:
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"any system, usually of rigid bodies, formed and connected to alter,
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transmit, and direct applied forces in a predetermined manner to
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accomplish a specific objective, such as the performance of useful
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work."
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A nanomachine is just such a system, but working on a molecular scale
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rather than on the macroscopic level.
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One aspect of nanomachines which many people do not realize is the fact
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that they exist at this very moment. Right now, in every living organism is
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a multitude of nanomachines whose purpose is to break down proteins,
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transport molecules across membranes, and even fix errors in the DNA
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structure of the nucleus. The only difference between the nanomachines in
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the body and those that scientists hope to artificially create is that man-
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made nanomachines will be much more general purpose.
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Nanomachines are made of protein molecules. Since the forces that hold
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proteins together are very weak, the probability that the protein would
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fold in the correct way is astronomical. This makes creating a large
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protein molecule extremely difficult. Current technology allows biochemists
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to create amino acid sequences from scratch, but with no guarantee as to
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the structure that will develop. Biochemists are now trying to figure out
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how to make a sequence of amino acids fold the right way. The best computer
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programs today still cannot predict how a given sequence will fold.
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On the other hand, engineers do not think the same way that
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biochemists do. The engineers are not trying to predict how natural
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proteins will fold, but are trying to design a long protein chain that will
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fold predictably, which makes the engineer's job easier in a sense.
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Once protein based nanomachines have been successfully created, the
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door will be open for nanomachines which are made of tougher stuff. The
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disadvantage of proteins is that they have a limited range of operating
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conditions: pH level, temperature and other factors must all be regulated
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to extreme precision.
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Nanomachines can serve many useful purposes. One field which can
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benefit greatly is medicine. Because nanomachines are specifically designed
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to manipulate single atoms, many of today's ailments can be cured
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relatively easily.
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One such condition is arteriosclerosis. In arteriosclerosis, deposits
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of cholesterol build up on the inner walls of arteries, causing them to
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narrow. This condition is most serious when the coronary arteries are
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involved. Although the heart is a small organ, it uses 1/5th of the blood
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supply for its own needs. When the blood flow is sufficiently restricted,
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tissue which is fed by that artery begins to die. The first sign of
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narrowed arteries in the heart is a condition known as angina, which causes
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sharp chest pain. As the condition worsens, the heart muscle will begin to
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die, which will cause a heart attack. However, a nanomachine can be
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programmed to search for deposits of cholesterol and remove them, thereby
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re-opening the artery.
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Cell repair nanomachines would handlethe problems that occur with
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cells and tissues. For this job, the cellrepair machines would need the
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assistance of nanocomputersand molecular-sized sensors and tools. These
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cell repairmachines would compare in size to bacteria and viruses, butbe
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much more complex. Cell repair machines would travel through the blood
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stream and would enter the cells as viruses do. Once inside thecell, the
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nanomachine would determine whether a problem existed by examining the
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cell's contents and activities. Depending on what was found, it would take
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the necessary action to either restore the cell to top efficiency or to
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destroy the cell if it were too far out of operational parameters, as is
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the case in cancer.
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In order to control the function of the nanomachine, a nanocomputer
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would direct their actions. The logic gates would be built by bonding
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carbon in this fashion:
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(C <20> C - C <20> C)n
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where n is the number of units in the chain. The carbon atoms in this chain
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would form straight rods. Other atoms such as fluorine would be used as
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logic gates. Memory for the computer would be constructed on the atomic
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scale with different atoms representing binary 1's and 0's. Because the
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amount of RAM capacity is virtually limitless on the atomic scale, the sum
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total of human knowledge could be stored in the volume occupied by a sewing
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thimble. Since the amount of memory available for the nanocomputer would
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not be a factor, a nanocomputer would be able to read in the entire DNA
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sequence for a particular person and make corrections when necessary.
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Since all physical ailments of the human body are caused by
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misarranged atoms, cell repair machines would restore these atoms to their
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correct place, thereby eliminating the problem. As rosy as this may sound,
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simply repairing the physical ailment would not necessarily fix the main
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cause. For example, if a person were to have a stroke, the damaged brain
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tissue could be reconstructed, but any information stored in that cell
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would be lost.
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One area that would not be effectively treatable through
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nanotechnology is mental health. While some types of mental disability
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would by curable through the restoration of chemical and hormone levels in
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the brain, others which are not caused by physical means would not be
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affected.
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The problem of aging could also be solved by nanomachines. The
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weakened bones, wrinkled skin, low enzyme activities, slow wound healing,
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and poor memory, all typical examples of aging, would become unknown. All
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of the above side effects of aging are caused by damaged molecules,
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chemical imbalances, and misarranged structures. If cell repair machines
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could fix the damaged cells and structures, then the aging process would be
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greatly slowed down. Lives could be prolonged for almost an indefinite
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amount of time. The average life expectancy of a person could very well
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range into the hundreds or thousands of years. K. Eric Drexler, a pioneer
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in the field of nanotechnology, predicts that nanomachines would be able to
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restore people frozen in cryonic suspension. As a part of the unfreezing
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process, cell repair machines would fix the problem the person had which
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caused them to be frozen.
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Beyond the medical aspect, another field in which nanomachines would
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contribute is space technology. Because a nanomachine would construct
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something with precise knowledge of every atom, much of the problems
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associated with space today could be solved. Entire engines could be
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constructed in one piece, with no seams or structures that could be jarred
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loose by vibration.
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Toxic waste, the scourge of the modern era would be removed from our
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air, soil, and water. Many possibilities exist for dealing with this
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problem. One example: dioxin. Molecular machines could be created that
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simply rearrange the atoms in this substance, which would then render it
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harmless. To remove lead and other heavy metals, the cleaning-machines
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would construct a molecule of buckminsterfulerene with the heavy metal in
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the center. Briefly, a description of buckminsterfulerene: the nanomachine
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would create a three dimensional lattice of carbon atoms roughly in the
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shape of a ball. The toxin would still exist, but it would be in an inert
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form and unable to interact with the external world.
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Even though the widespread use of nanotechnology is still at least 10
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to 50 years away, it will come eventually. The enthusiasm with which the
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idea of nanotechnology has been received is almost a guarantee that someday
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in the future nanomachines will be chugging along through our bloodstream
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with our white blood cells.
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Bibliography
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Drexler, K. Eric, Interview with Eric Drexler, Omni, January 1989, pg 66
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Drexler, K. Eric, "The Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of
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Nanotechnology", Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1987
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Fromson, Brett Duval, "Where the next fortunes will be made", Fortune,
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December 5, 1988, pg 185
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Monmany, Terence, "Nanomachines to our rescue", New York Times Book Review,
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August 8, 1988
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Young, Jefferey, "Nanocomputer technology proves good things come in small
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packages", PC Week, February 16, 1988, pg 13
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