Nanotechnology: Taking Medicine To Another Level
It’s a time where the lines between computer support and human support are changing. 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 turn that notion on its head. Computer repair would mean vital body immune response would be carried out by miniature computers. Nanotechnology has evolved and it is about to alter the world. One of the major fields of change will be in the health industry.
Nanotechnology is the application of technology using miniscule materials. A nanometer is a component of measurement. Nanotechnology useelements between 1 and 100 nanometers. If you took 800,000 nanometers and laid them next to each other 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. A great number of research institutions are engaged in exciting studies that could change the face of health care. Some changes are already occurring.
Presently a number of experiments are using nanotechnology in a variety of ways. One area of interest is in how nanotechnology can help in diagnosing and treating cancer. A major downside to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, is that it can’t specifically target only cancer cells. Normal and cancer cells are attacked. 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. An additional application nanotechnology in the treatment of 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 doesn’t harm healthy cells in close proximity.
Nanodevices would be tiny enough to enter a cell. They would be so small that they would be able to engage proteins and DNA. Nanodevices could 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, this would be a major advance in cancer fighting technology.
Nanotechnology is a quickly becoming an area of science that combines many disciplines including; physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and many other sciences including political and social science. With ongoing discoveries in all different fields, the world of Nanotechnology will be fully upon us.
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