Week 8: Nanotech + Art
Week 8: NanoTech + Art
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| Specific Cell Detector |
It's crazy to think of how our world is going to change in the next couple of years due to the current and future discoveries in nanotechnology. I was really impressed by this lecture because like Professor Gimzewski said, there are currently about 1000 nanotechnology products in the market that we have no knowledge of... We might even be wearing one right now and we have absolutely no idea.
It was impressive to me that nanotech is not only used in cosmetics and food, but in every imaginable field. For example, in the article by Gimzewski and Professor Vesna, they mentioned that the US Army has been working with MIT in investing an immense amount of money to develop products made with nanoparticles. They describe these efforts' aim as "to improve soldiers' protection and their ability to survive using new tiny technologies to detect threats, and automatically treat some medical conditions." Similarly, the US Navy has been developing t-shirts that work like computers to "...monitor vital signs, such as heart rate and breathing of wearers..." of members of the military.
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| Nanotechnology used in the army |
It's impressive how past inventions like the Scanning Tunneling Microscope- which feels the surface with a fine needle in order to map and image atoms- in 1983 has allowed humans, more specifically scientists, to see the world from a different perspective. It has shifted paradigms and has given us a lot of answers to unknown information. For example, after this invention, humans realized that the metallic blue-like wings of the Blue morpho butterfly are composed of nanostructures that reflect different varieties of photons, it's an illusion of color. These do not contain pigment, but simply nanoparticles that are surrounded by protein. This is called nanophotonic and will potentially be used for alternate pigmentation in products like cosmetics to reduce their toxicity and carcinogen chemicals.
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| Nanoparticles detecting specific cells |
Last but not least, it's exciting to think of what nanotechnology will be able to do with medicine. If we continue to fail in finding the cure to cancer, I am sure that nanotech will take charge in developing the best treatments for it. Professor Gimzewski mentioned two things about nanomedicine that really caught my attention. First off, nanoparticles can detect specific tumors, target that specific cell, and by endocytosis, the particle will be absorbed into the cell. Similarly, nanoshells can be illuminated with infrared light to heat up the cell and potentially kill tissue. This is currently being tested as a potential cancer therapy and as antibodies that will recognize cancer cells. Secondly, like the breast cancer drug Abraxane, which was developed in 2005, nanotech can reduce toxicity in cancer treatments by making them more soluble.
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| The art of nanotechnology |
The amount of products, services, drugs, etc that will develop as we dig more into nanotech is amazing. Like Kurzweil mentioned in his TED Talk, "What now fits in our pockets would fit in a blood cell in 25 years. And we will begin to actually deeply influence our health and our intelligence, as we get closer and closer to this technology." And in order to keep exponentially growing with these inventions we will need to bridge that gap between science and humanities. Like Professor Vesna mentioned, "Nanoscience not only requires input from practically every scientific discipline, but it also needs direct and intense collaboration with the humanities and the arts. It is highly probable that this new technology will turn the world, as we know it, upside down, from the bottom up..." maybe CP Snow's questions about the third culture will be resolved with this new discipline.
Sources:
Gimzewski, Jim and Vesna, Victoria. “The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of fact & fiction in the construction of a new science.”
Kurzweil, Ray. “A university for the coming singularity.” TED. February 2009. Lecture.
"Nanomedicine." Nanotechnology in Medicine. Hawk's Perch Technical Writing, n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.
Post, Guest. "First Nanotechnology Medicine Is Almost Here." The Libertarian Republic. The Libertarian Republic, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
Rothemund, Paul. “DNA Folding, in detail.” TED. February 2008. Lecture.
Zhao, Jingna. "Turning to Nanotechnology for Pollution Control: Applications of Nanoparticles." DUJS Online. N.p., 02 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 May 2017.
I myself am blown away by the fact that nanotechnology is being modified and advanced every year and we have so many it already being put to use to help out the medical field and the armed forces to improve the health of humans. I myself do believe that some type of nanotechnology will be made to find a cure to cancer in the future. I mean there already is technology that can detect tumors in humans.
ReplyDeleteHi Paulina, before this unit I had no idea how big and influential nanotechnology was, and I certainly do think it will be the way of the future. I believe nanotechnology will be the answer to many unsolved questions and problems, such as the cure/treatment of cancer as you mentioned above. I liked your emphasis on the importance of bridging the gap between the fields of humanities and sciences. Lastly, I liked how you connected CP Snow in the end, it makes me wonder if he had ever thought of something like nanotechnology, but just didn't have the means to carry it out.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's scary not knowing what type of nanotechnologies exist. I agree that nanotechnology does come with pros and cons. The pros you mentioned about nanotechnology in medicine is amazing. Medicines that never existed before could help many, many sick people. I also agree that the exponential growth of nanotechnology requires bridging the humanities and the sciences because nanotechnology has the ability to change the world, for better or for worse.
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