Nanotech and Cyborgs

"Life is nanotech." So says Stephen Gordon, blogging at The Speculist. He's writing about "Holy Grail of Enzymatics: Making Enzymes that Make Anything You Want," a recent blog post by Al Fin.

Fin says:

Ever since scientists learned they could design new genes--and thus new proteins--in the lab, they have been hoping to gain enough specificity in the design of enzymes to allow the use of artificial enzymes to create new and useful molecules that have never existed in nature. Clearly, that is nano-assembly in an enzymatic form, with potential approaching anything Eric Drexler may have dreamed for his own nanoassemblers.

Elsewhere, he says:

Nanotechnologists too often approach the assembly of their nano-machines on a de novo basis, ignoring the legions of nano-machines that evolved over a billion years ago. Nano-engineers had better begin learning from the biologically evolved nanodynamic structures, or they will be made irrelevant by bio-nano engineers.

CRN does not take a position on whether the earliest forms of advanced nanotechnology -- meaning molecular manufacturing -- will come through thorough control of enzymes, through engineering of DNA, through structured polymers, through vacuum-based mechanochemistry, or some other method.

We do expect, however, that no matter which approach is the first to achieve automated, programmed, exponential manufacturing at the nanoscale, eventually diamondoid nanotech will prove to be the most robust.

Mike Treder

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[lorenzo campbell]

i was wondering with the leaps and bounds nanotechnology is making do you think the technololgical avenues you could take are unlimited .my question is do you think some of the ideas they consider sci fi can be made true .please email me and let me know

[Chris Phoenix, CRN]

Christine Peterson said something like the following: "If you're trying to predict the future, and it looks like science fiction, it's probably wrong. But if it doesn't look like science fiction, it's definitely wrong."

_Some_ sci fi ideas will certainly work. Which ones? Dunno; have to study them one by one.

Chris