Nanotechnology and Life Sciences

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This is currently under development in our laboratory.  We are looking at various specific aspects. For example, the first thing we demonstrated is to see if the oscillating magnetic field can control the release of drugs in this material.  We have shown by looking at magnetic polymer composite materials, and then we have demonstrated it is indeed possible when you apply oscillating magnetic fields (Langmuir, 21(5), 2042 -2050, 2005).

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I think I can properly address the question: Why are you looking at commercialization aspects and technology for LHRH based materials or imaging as to the treatment?

The first thing being developed is LHRH-SPION contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging of cancer and the preliminary  results that we got, both in animal studies,  as well as intra studies, are very, very encouraging (Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 99(2), 163-176, 2006).                  

This is where nanotechnology is so far and there are several more exciting opportunities that  nanotechnology provides, and those nanotechnologies  have to be screened, but are not far away.

This is no longer science fiction, it is science based on real life examples. For example, there are military suits that are being developed which can monitor health (which can ease injury), and communication, enhancing a soldier’s performance.    

In addition, such military suits are so lightweight that one could literally leap into tall buildings in a single bound.              

Similarly, imagine going to a doctor and having the cancer detected as well as treated at the same time on a single visit. It is a possibility; it is no longer a myth.  One could talk about space elevators [1] -   these are all technologies that are currently being developed.

While such technologies are being developed, one may be worrying about the concepts on nano wars.  There’s much discussion going on in trying to understand what fine control and influence one could have utilizing these nanomaterials for biomedical applications.  I think such dialogue is very, very crucial and important while the technologies are being developed.            

I recommend a very interesting book by Michael Crichton, Prey [2]. I think this also helps one to really understand the various other aspects of these new technologies that are being developed.         

Having given you a brief idea about how these nanotechnologies are revolutionizing different disciplines and different phases of life sciences, I think one may ask the question as to where this is all leading.  I think that is the most important question in my view.          

The purpose of moving into higher end technologies, day in and day out, is to enhance our quality of life, or is there something else?  I think that's the crucial question which one needs to answer.               

I think the most important lessons that nanotechnologies provides is for our lives.  That crucial understanding is what I would call nano-thinking.  Nano-thinking is the ability to think small while thinking big. It is the difference between a commercial thinking and an integrated thinking. When you have such thinking, you cannot only enhance your ability to do wonderful science, but also increase your ability to look inward. 

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Coming back to my question of what all of these technologies and continuous enhancements in our level of thinking - level of implementing our minds leads to?  I think it all leads to universal consciousness.

Our mind is an extraordinary source of highest potential. The mind is really responsible for bringing out these new technologies and new approaches, and helping us to understand nature and the world better.   The mind is what is really sharpening us, and then the sharpening is what is going to bring us towards universal consciousness.       

There is a very interesting statement from ancient Scriptures, VEDAS, from the Hindu religion, The statement is “Anoraniyam Mahatmayam”. What it means is that the universe, or the universal consciousness, is just one, which is the smallest of the smallest, and biggest of the biggest. This statement truly conceptualizes nanoscience.         

Therefore, there is only one thing which carries both the small and the big, and that is the universal consciousness.  I think that all research and technologies are moving in that direction.

 

 

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Footnotes

1. Space Elevator - In a 1978 science-fiction novel called Fountains of Paradise Arthur Clarke described a strong filament or cable being lowered from a geosynchronous satellite and used by the engineers of the future to move things up and down from earth-a space elevator. Let's ignore for a moment the tremendous problems involved-atmospheric turbulence, the Coriolis forces, the ravages of ozone and radiation up there-and think about how strong such a cable should be. It takes freshman college physics to figure that the tension in a cable is proportional to its specific gravity ρ = 1.3, a square of the earth radius R, and a simple integral: ∫(1/r 2 - r/R s 3)dr. The integral spans 22,300 miles all the way from the ground to the synchronous orbit, accumulates a lot and produces a strength requirement of 63 gigapascals. As speculative as it is, the story benchmarks this number. None of the materials now known to humankind get close to such strength. Fullerene cables someday may.
http://www.americanscientist.org/...  January 23, 2008 11:48AM EST

2. Michael Crichton’s, Prey – “In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles—micro-robots—has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey.”
http://books.google.com/...  January 23, 2008 12:26PM EST

 

 

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