Nanobiology - the next great revolution in applied medical technologies

Quasi-Viral Component

Synthetically Engineered "Quasi-Viral Component" This is a 3D procedural rendering of a quasi-viral component. The geometries of this synthetically engineered "viral entity" were constructed algorithmically, as well as the topographical and surface features of the cell which the virus is about to enter via enzymic process. Engineered viral entities of this type are an example of the type of synthetically contrived molecular constructions eminating from the field of "nanobiology". This technology has spectacular potential biomedical applications, not the least of which is the delivery of key protein strands to the ribosomes and mitochondria of "ailing" cells, which they then could utilize for self repair and modification via intracellular corrective chemistry.

Synthetically engineered molecular entities have the potential of delivering the molecular equivilant of software to living cells, to instigate corrective and maintainance processes not possible via any other means.Potential applications - cures for perhaps most known diseases, possibly even aging itself. Potential risks - biological warfare agents of extraordinary destructive capacity, even the "accidental" eradication of life as it is currently known to be among the human population.

Neurochip

NeuroChipThis 3D rendering represents the latest development in a series of "biochip" devices, in this case, the precursory example technology which could have applications ranging from neural prosthetics to the next generation of biological computing and sensory system components. This example indicates molecular protein "snippets" induced into bonding with a receptor site, as a dynamic contact/ molecular conduction node embedded into a silicon micro device substrate.

How often has it been said that a glimpse into the past is a mirror into the future? Technology trends, some of them serious, and others laughable, have come and gone much like the ever changing tides of fashion.

Consider the following possibilities within the next 10 to 15 years. Injectable nano machines and machine systems which en- ter the human body to target various medical annomalies, such as chloresterol deposits in arteries, blood clots and annurisms in crucial areas, such as within the brain. Nano "attack squads" could be established to essentially perform the same types of tasks that white blood cells perform, that is, attacking unwanted or intrusive micro-organisms. In a more advanced capacity, a permanent collection of nanite components could remain at various strategic internal locations, distributed throughout the human body, to continually monitor and arrest potential threats or degredation as it occurs. Applications could also include such tasks as depositing the equivilant of chemical "markers" on unwanted cells, or even viral invaders, which would then allow specialized drugs to seek and destroy those unwanted entities which have been so marked. In fact, the ultimate extension of this realm of application is the creation of a cybernetic "enhancement" of permanent, cellular nanite components which could very much extend the lifetime of whoever they were installed in. The boundary between "natural" life and the molecularly engineered modification thereof has already been crossed. This is the defacto equivilant of redefining Nature, as a contrived process. Consider this. As of this writing, the first steps of establishing biomechanical and bio-electrical links with various sensory organs within the human body have already occurred. Perhaps the most spectacular implementation to date is the successful implantation of an ultra-miniaturized choclear ear implant which allows formerly deaf indviduals to hear for the first time ever. Even more potentially spectacular is the current research in augmenting otherwise damaged optic nerve connections to the brain via artificially constructed neural conductors to restore sight to blind individuals. In one example, a series of dot pat- terns created with a computer were actually injected, via voltage signals, directly into the optic nerve fibers of a patient, who could then see the dots. Though the patterns were very coarse (6 x 8 dot matrices, as of the latest publication), this repre- sents the first time that a direct visual link from an external computer had ever been established.

Dendrite

Another area of interest being considered by some developers is the potential for "growing" the defacto equivilant of a synthetic neural dendrite as an artificial enhancement for embedding into organic neural tissue in the human brain. This is a "virtual dendrite", grown as an L-system fractal generated 3D branching structure, and texture mapped with a fractal generated procedural texture.

Even in merely the medical applications realm, this is only the very beginning. Consider the concept of "neural enhancement" on an intracellular, or even molecular scale. What does this mean? Within the human brain, information is transferred, processed, and stored via the conduction of sodium ions being transmitted by billions of tiny nerve fibers called dendrites. The dendrites are actually arranged in clusters, or ganglion, and groups of clusters, much like the branches of trees. It is the branching structure density, or relative number of "node sites" within these ganglion which determine the complexity and robustness of information processing within a given region of brain tissue. In fact, researchers have already indicated with experimentation that actual "buds" can be induced to appear on dendrite fibers as a function of applied repeated electrical stimulus. The electrical charges, or voltage patterns, as they are conducted and exchanged from one ganglion group to the next, is partially due to the voltage controlled membranes surrounding each dendrite, which regulates the permeation of the sodium ions entering or exiting the dendrite fibers. What this suggests to some theoreticians is the possibility of creating a series of molecular scale nanite components which can "latch onto" the dendrite receptor/transmitter sites, and enhance this voltage controlled response process. In other words, injectable artificial nano components which, when residing in the human brain, actually modify human behavior, memory retention, and complex mental processing abilities.

Synthetic Antibodies

Stationary synthetic antibody

A stationary synthetic antibody is lodged on a cell wall, as a type of molecular scale protectionay device, ready to neutralize and engulf, if necessary, in intruding alien virus.

The included imgages are computer generated 3D renderings of nanocomponents and related molecular scale subsystems, created by the author as a visualization of various implementations of such molecular substructures and their interactive symbiotic components.

This is a small sample of an ongoing project, the goal of which is to harness the synergistically interrelated potential of technologies and industrial processes, which are seen by many as residing in the future, but are already here in the present. For more information on the author's thematic trajectories and activities in this and related arenas, you are invited to visit Charles Ostman

If interested in strategic research and alliancing, technology related applications development, reports and analysis , or simply a furthering of one's personal knowledge base of the business, and socio-economic implications of these emmerging technologies and their potential applications, you are invited to visit the Institute for Global Futures

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