Smaller Is Better: Nanotechnology Is An Exciting Field
We live in an age where the lines between computer support and human support are changing. In Nassau County computer repair means people working on computers. In Suffolk County computer repair means people working on computers. But in the labs of esteemed universities studies are underway that would flip the relationship. Computer repair would mean vital body immune response would be carried out by miniature computers. Nanotechnology has evolved and it is about to alter the world. An area most affected will be in medical technology.
Nanotechnology is the use of technology using very small things. A nanometer is a unit of measurement. Nanotechnology useunits between 1 and 100 nanometers. If you took 800,000 nanometers and laid them next to each other it would be about the width of a hair. That’s small stuff. Being able to operate and manipulate elements on such a tiny scale holds great potential benefit in the medical arena. A great number of research institutions are engaged in exciting studies that could lead to a major revolution in health care. Some changes are already happening.
Currently there are many different studies using nanotechnology in a variety of ways. One area of interest is in how nanotechnology can assist in diagnosing and treating cancer. A major downside to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, is that it is a shotgun approach to treating the body. Healthy and unhealthy cells are assaulted. With nanotechnology specific cells can be treated. There are theories and trials that employee RNA strands that can find and attach to cancer cells. These strands, when connected can deposit cancer fighting drugs into the afflicted cells. Research has also considered the possibility of creating a color coding system using nanotechnology that would create protein indicators that would attach to cancer cells making them easier to trace. An additional application nanotechnology in the fight against cancer is nanoshells. Nanoshells are made of tiny beads with various densities made of gold. These shells are attracted to cancer cells, surround them and then are heated with near infrared light which destroys the cancer cells, but doesn’t harm healthy cells in close proximity.
Nanodevices would be tiny enough to operate inside a cell. They would be so small that they would be able to engage proteins and DNA. They would be able to monitor the cell and detect disease using a minimal amount of valuable cell tissue. This means that diseases and change in cell tissue could be monitored and detected much earlier in the process. Since success in fighting cancer often depends on early detection, nanodevices would start a revolution in cancer fighting technologies.
Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing area of science that utilizes a wide array of disciplines including; physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and many other sciences including political and social science. With continual breakthroughs in all different fields, the advent of Nanotechnology will be fully upon us.
