The Promise Of Nanotechnology

The Promise of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is designing and building machines in which every atom and chemical bond is specified precisely (Hall 21). Products of nanotechnology are anything that is smaller than 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology is a broad term used for various parts of biomechanics. There are many promises of nanotechnology in the fields of environment, transportation and health. And this is just a small glimpse into the world of nanotechnology. But because nanotechnology is so broad and covers so many aspects of life, in this essay I will only discuss the promises in the health field. The aspect that needs the most advancement and is more important is health. And nanotechnology is coming a long way in making virtually all illnesses curable and nonexistent.

The use of nanotechnology for human health purposes has been developed only in recent years and has big dreams in its future development. Nanotechnology can promise more efficient surgery, cell repair, organ replacement, and easier diagnosis. With nanotechnology, painful surgery will be a thing of the past. It will cut around cells rather than through them and the technology ... would be invaluable as a replacement for anesthesia and its attendant dangers and recovery times (Hall 145). The use of nanotechnology would subsequently speed up the healing process of the patient, as J. Storr Hall notes the dangers and consequences of the present method of surgery:

Current surgical techniques disrupt cells, sever extracellular connective tissue, cut nerves and capillaries, and in general, do all sorts of damage that needs to be fixed by the healing process (244).

From the viewpoint of a cell, even a fine scalpel is a blunt instrument more suited to tear and injure than heal and cure (Merkle). The use of nanotechnology in surgery will limit the number of cells that will be damaged. And with nanotechnology exploring techniques of repairing and killing cells, damaged cells will no longer be as big of a problem.

In the near future, nanotechnology will be responsible for being able to build devices that can kill a single cell. Ralph C. Merkle explains how a device of this sort will affect cancer cells:

The device would have a small computer, several binding sites to determine the concentration of specific molecules, and a supply of some poison which could be selectively released and was able to kill a cell identified as cancerous (Merkle).

The type of device described will have the capabilities to kill specific types of cancers in specific parts of the body.