Nanorobots

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. 

There is a vast amount of literature on self-assembly and/or self-organization, as this notion is used in practically all fields of science, from classic organic chemistry to polymer chemistry (Lindsey, 1991 Lawrence etah, 1995 Pope and Muller, 1991 Zeng and Zimmermaim, 1997), to the new frontiers of nano-technology, nanorobotics (Whitesides et al, 1991 Bissel et al., 1994 Whitesides and Boncheva,... 

Because the fullerenes are so heat-resistant, strong, and stable, they could potentially be the raw material for a wide range of products. Fullerene-based armor, medical supplies, computer parts, and even planet-roaming nanorobots are all being considered and researched. 

R. A. Freitas Jr., Current status of nanomedicine and medical nanorobotics, J. Comput. Theor. Nanosci. 2, 1-25 (2005). 

A photoelectrolysis hydrogen fuel energy system uses self-replicating nanorobots ( nanobots ) to mimic the first half of the photosynthesis process to produce hydrogen gas. Fuel cells made of carbon nano-tubes could be used to interface with all energy consumers. This hydrogen fuel energy system is conceptualized as shown in Fig. 7. 

Dynamic nanoplatform nanosome Tecto-dendrimers Artificial cells and liposomes Polymeric micelles and polymersomes Nanorobotics... 

DNA-based devices and nanorobots Diamond-based nanorobots Cell repair devices Intracellular devices Intracellular assay Intracellular biocomputers Intracellular sensors/reporters Implant inside cells BioMEMS... 

In order to manipulate the immense number of atoms required to make a product, scientists plan on constructing tiny robots called nanorobots. Nanorobots would have two objectives— to manipulate atoms and to copy themselves (self-replication). Through self-replication, countless nanorobots could be created. This work force of nanorobots would then work together to quickly and efficiently assemble new products. 

The benefits of nanotechnology could potentially go beyond those of all other existing technologies. The quality and reliability of manufactured products could improve dramatically. For example, a brick could repair itself after cracks form, and a damaged road could repave itself Furthermore, even as the quality and capability of products increase, their prices would decrease. With the use of nanorobot workforces and a readily available supply of atoms, the cost of atom-assembled products would be low. 

The cover of Modern Biopharmaceuticals shows a sketch of a nanorobot working within the blood stream. The artist - inspired by Asimov - possibly thought about the diagnostic and therapeutic capabihties of Ehrlich s vision of the magic buUef. We believe that the ultrasound theranos-tics concept is currently one of the most promising candidates to reahze Paul Ehrlich s vision in the new millennium. 

The term bionanotechnology is derived from the mixture of biotechnology and nanotechnology, indicating the ability manipulate molecules or even atoms to manufacture smaller systems like nanorobotic devices or carrier systems or nanoscaled machines. An interesting historical lecture and vision of nanotechnology was presented by Richard Feynman in 1959 [1]. Today, some visions have become realities. 

Nanoengineered systems for the construction of medical nanorobots capable of identifying pathogens and repairing or substituting cellular components in... 

Despite their appeal, the problem with both of the devices described above is that they are activated by small molecules. To approach nanorobotics succesfuUy. one needs many different devices incorporated into a larger matrix, such as the 2D arrays described above. However, both the craciform and the B-Z devices are activated by small molecules, so that the action of these effectors could not be targeted easily to a specific device within the assay. Given the informational nature of DNA, it seems that sequence-dependent devices should be developed to fulfill this purpose. Two such devices have been developed, both based on the same principle of activation by strand addition and strand removal. This approach was pioneered by Yurke et who developed molecular tweezers that were closed by adding a strand of DNA. The strand contained an unpaired segment and could be removed from the tweezers by the addition of its full complement removal of the strand resulted in the tweezers relaxing to their open state. 

Magnetosensitive nanocomposites with hierarchicai nanoarchitecture as biomedicai nanorobots synthesis, properties, and appiication... 

Sensations in media regarding the creation of nanorobots capable of destroying cancer cells are not surprising any more. Unfortunately, these messages contain no data to confirm their authenticity. However, the timeliness and relevance of the issue raised certainly remain (Roco et al., 2002). 

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