Academics

Nanobots: The Future Belongs To The Small

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Nanotechnology used to be a foreign word but is becoming more common because of its use in some popular consumer electronic and beauty products. Aside from that, nanotechnology is making amazing medical breakthrough that holds promise to a healthier future for humans.

Nanotechnology is the science of manipulating matter into atomic and supermolecular level. By making matter into very small particles, it will be more accurate and effective in reaching its target, a goal which nanotechnology wished to achieve. With nanotechnology, diseases can be cured on a cellular level without damaging the whole body.

They can do this by deploying nanobots into the bloodstream and do its dirty work. Nanobots can also search the body for defective tissues, send a report to the computer, and reconstruct the defective tissue before they become completely destroyed.

Two of the areas where nanobots are being tested are in the prevention of aging and in cancer research. In terms of aging, scientists say that the reason for the aging process is due to the regeneration of cells where exact copies are made. These copies lead to deterioration become some details are lost during the copying process.

With nanotechnology, however, this process can be reversed and prevent the aging process. It does not necessarily mean that people will be immortal but that they will be healthier and stronger even if they advance in years. Scientists believe that by 2050, people will be much healthier and have a higher mortality rate.

In the area of cancer research, a team of scientists from the Polytechnique Montreal, Universite de Montreal, and McGill University have successfully used nanobots to target cancer cells.

The team used 100 million flagellated bacteria loaded with drugs and deployed them inside the bloodstream. The nanobots then sought the tumor that it needed to cure. As they enter the tumor, the nanobots were able to detect the oxygen-depleted tumor and released the drug there. The researchers hope that their research will enable more advanced intervention methods in the future.

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