Nanomedicine could end disease, old age by mid-2020s

By Dick Pelletier

      

    From rebuilding damaged cells atom-by-atom, to creating micro-robots that swim through arteries destroying pathogens and cancer, nanomedicine promises to change forever how we treat sickness and disease.

    In 1959, Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman declared that we would one day learn to move individual atoms around, place them precisely where we want, and bond them together. By doing this, Feynman said, we could build, tear apart, or modify any object made of atoms, including human bones, skin, organs, blood; even DNA.

    Nanotech pioneer Eric Drexler, in his 1980s book, Engines of Creation, agreed with Feynman and expanded the concept. Drexler said that this 'miracle science' will one day allow us to repair all damages sustained by the body. It will heal wounds, eliminate infections and cure diseases; and because each of these conditions is the result of atoms being in the wrong place, putting them back where they belong corrects the problem instantly.

    Smaller than bacterium and red blood cells, these tiny 'bots can cruise through veins, locate damaged cells, and make instant repairs. In the recent report, Nanotechnology and Radically Extended Life Span, posted at nanovic.com, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing's Senior Research Fellow Robert Freitas describes how this amazing new science will work and predicts when treatments might become available.

    In a typical nanomedicine treatment to stop infection, patients swallow a pill with 100 billion nanorobots inside that search the body for unwanted bacteria, viruses, or fungi and immediately render them harmless. When finished, an ultrasound instructs the 'bots to exit the body through urine. The entire procedure takes only about 30 minutes and leaves the patient in perfect health, free of all infections.

    In addition, nanorobots can replace faulty chromosomes in diseased cells with new ones. Armed with knowledge of the patient’s genome, nanorobots find cells with DNA mistakes and create perfect error-free cells to replace them. This eliminates the dangers of genetic diseases.

    Today when cells become damaged, doctors rely on drugs to initiate self-repair, a process that works sometimes, but fails far too often. With nanomedicine, instead of repairing old cells, nanorobots create flawless, new youthful cells, one atom at a time.

    Possibly the most important application for nanorobots includes removing accumulated cellular damage and mutations that cause aging. This procedure will enable older people to recapture their youthful health, strength, and beauty. The young will remain young; the old will become young.

    Will nanomedicine be affordable? Nanorobots can be created in labor-free nanofactories and allowed to self-replicate, which means they will be very inexpensive to produce. And because each atom is placed with perfect precision, there is no doubt to the quality of this futuristic healthcare.

    Freitas believes "nanorobots will appear in clinical therapies in the 2020s," and a Department of Defense report agrees with this timing. "With scheduled research, we could see the first nano-assemblers by 2020," the report says, "and nanomedicine will emerge shortly after in the 2020s."

    Although nanorobots are only in beginning stage of development today, most experts believe that by mid-2020s, these clever 'bots will be curing diseases in medical centers around the world. Get ready to enjoy revolutionary 21st century healthcare in this "magical future" time.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.