Fantastic Voyage

Scientists study protein motors because they are biologically interesting but also because they offer insights into mini-motors. Molecular machinery such as nanorobots or nanobots—tiny robots—is a major goal of nanotechnology, and it would have tremendous applications in a lot of fields, especially in medicine. Some researchers are trying to adapt protein motors to perform additional jobs, while other researchers simply use these tiny motors for inspiration. Ever since the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, in which scientists shrank a team of specialists and a submarine and injected them into the body of a patient, people have been fascinated with potential treatments that would be made possible by tiny machines. 

R. Kurzweil and T. Grossman. 2004. Fantastic Voyage Live Long Enough to Live Forever. Emmaus, PA Rodale Books. 

In the movie Fantastic Voyage actress Raquel Welch is among a group of scientists and doctors tasked to remove an inoperable brain tumor from a VIP. The team enters a submarinelike vessel which is then reduced to microscopic dimensions and injected into the patient s bloodstream. A moment of elevated drama occurs when Ms. Welch, outside of the vessel, is attacked by blobby antibodies and the men vie for the honor of removing them from her bodysuit. Needless to say, after some tense moments, the tumor operation eventually succeeds and the movie ends happily. 

What does the movie Fantastic Voyage have to do with nanotechnology ... 

The final voyage leading to the fantastic white apparition is the most striking example of this dimension. 

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