Nanotechnology: Bringing The Healthfield To A New Frontier
We live in an age where the lines between computer support and human support are blurring. In Nassau County computer repair means people working on computers. In Suffolk County computer repair means people working on computers. But in the halls of many major universities studies are underway that would flip the relationship. Computer repair would mean vital body immune response would be done by miniature computers. Nanotechnology has evolved and it is poised to change everything. An area most affected will be in the health industry.
Nanotechnology is the use of technology using miniscule materials. A nanometer is a unit of dimension. Nanotechnology useelements running between 1 and 100 nanometers. If you took 800,000 nanometers and laid them side by side it would be about the width of a hair. That's small stuff. Being able to operate and manipulate elements at such a small level holds great potential benefit in the medical arena. Many institutions and researchers are engaged in exciting studies that could lead to a major revolution in health care. Some advances are already occurring.
Currently there are many different studies using nanotechnology in a variety of ways. One application 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 studies that employee RNA strands that can locate and connect to cancer cells. These strands, when connected can release anti-cancer agents into the afflicted cells. Other studies have focused on creating a color coding system using nanotechnology that would create protein indicators that would attach to cancer cells making them easier to trace. Another developing use 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 spares the nearby healthy cells not surrounded by nanoshells.
Nanodevices would be small 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. Changes in cell tissue indicating disease could be monitored and detected sooner. Because fighting cancer successfully depends on early detection, nanodevices would start a revolution in cancer fighting technologies.
Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing area of science that combines many 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.
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