Nanotechnology: Myth or Miracle?

Molecular Engineering may sound like science fiction but is based on reasoning from hard science. The question is not whether we can achieve it, but when? Atoms are the stuff from which all matter is constructed. Atoms linked to different atoms are called molecules and they are the basic components of all the different objects of the universe. The way atoms are connected and organised determine their characteristics as tangible objects; things around us act the way they do because of the way their molecules behave. The clouds in the sky, the water from the river; a lump of coal and a pure diamond; a grain of sand and a silicon chip, each pair made from the same atoms and so different. The difference lies in their arrangement, and our ability to arrange atoms lies at the foundation of technology.

Technology has advanced from chipping flint to etching microcircuits out of silicon chips. From stone axes to modern stainless steel implements, we have refined our ability to work with matter and atoms. Microelectronic technology has managed to cram room-size digital computers into a few wafers of silicon, and genetic engineers routinely use enzymes to splice, join and rearrange macromolecules of DNA; but our present-day technology still handles molecules and atoms in bulk. Although a million times smaller than a flint axehead (billions and trillions of atoms) and measured in micrometers (millionths of a meter),a microchip still consists of trillions of atoms. Molecules are far tinier than the smallest microchip, a thousand times smaller and they measure in nanometers (a billionth of a meter).

Our current technology is considered bulk technology, for we still handle atoms and molecules in large chunks. The ultimate technology will manipulate individual molecules and atoms with control and precision. The engineers of this new technology, working at the nanometer level, will build molecule-sized circuits and machines. This is molecular technology or nanotechnology. It represents a technological leap as great as that from stone to silicon. And it will change our world and our lives in more ways than we can imagine.

Contents

Eric Drexler and Nanotechnology
A survey of the theory of nanotechnology
Feynman on Nanotechnology
It was Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman who first suggested that molecular engineering was possible
Molecular Assembers in Nature
In our cells, DNA, RNA and ribosomes perform molecular engineering
Ralph Merkle and Molecular Medics
The medical potential of nanotechnology applications
The Miraculous Meat Machine
For the consumer, the ultimate molecular assembly device
Nanotechnology: Promises and Perils
Will the new technology change our world as we know it?

Other Useful References

Ralph Merkle's Web Page on Nanotechnology

You can read an interview with Eric Drexler conducted by MicroTimes.

An archive of nanotechnology-related papers and documents from the Foresight Institute is maintained at planchet.rutgers.edu. They also have a web page.

The most comprehensive web coverage of Nanotechnology is probably found at the Alberta Reseach Council, maintained by Sean Morgan. Check it out!

(Adapted from an article on nanotechnology published in The Straits Times, May 1991, (C) 1991 Jek Kian Jin)

kianjin@ncb.gov.sg