NANOROBOTS TO MONITOR THE OCEANS

Nanotechnology is built on a foundation of physics, chemistry, biology and computer science, and involves the manipulation at the atomic scale, where one nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Nanometric building blocks can be used to develop a molecule-sized electronic switch or a miniaturized version of the entire logic system of a computer. Nanotechnology has already moved away from computer science and applications include the marine environment as indicators and identifiers of pathogenic microorganisms. An article on the Small Times website (“Scientists want to send nanobots to search and destroy brown tide”, by Richard Acello, 22 January 2002), provides a few additional details on the project announced on the 10th January 2002 by the Laboratory for Molecular Robotics at the University of Southern California School of Engineering. A research grant worth $1.5 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will be used to create swarms of microscopic robots. These are envisaged to monitor potentially dangerous microorganisms in the ocean, which are responsible for millions of dollars worth of damage to the aquaculture and fisheries industries every year.  Other threats to human and marine life include urban runoff, sewage spills, and other pathogens. With the development of nanobots, the team at USC aims to cull these threats.
	The nanobots are made of gold and silver colloid balls, as small as two nanometers. A computer-controlled atomic force microscope is used to slide gold balls onto slides of mica or silicon. In this way, antibodies can be attached to the sharp silicon tip of the microscope probe. Interaction with a sample relies on the same mechanism of interaction and binding between any antibody and its corresponding antigen. This can be done at room temperature and in water, a process which takes at most a few hours.  Identification of pathogens in the traditional way could take days. One of the main problems which still needs to be solved is the issue of mobility. The nanobots will have to be able to swim or propel themselves through the water. One idea is to develop flagellar motion, similar to that used by bacteria and some protozoans. A paper titled “The Gray Goo Problem” by Robert A. Freitas Jr., takes a rather negative approach to nanotechnology.  The global undersea carbon storage exceeds 1x1016kg and is found as CH4 clathrates. The carbon dissolved in sea water as CO2 exceeds 3.8x1016kg. These can be combined to form solid carbon and water. Researchers are investigating the use of nanorobots in this chemical mechanism, thereby reducing the levels of CO2 (greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere. However, if these nanorobots are not strictly confined to the sea floor, a “worst-case scenario” is envisaged, whereby the natural cell/device ratio could increase by many orders of magnitude, requiring a more diligent census effort. Another idea to counteract this effect is the use of census-taking nanorobots to identify, disable, knapsack or destroy the gray plankton devices.

Researchers are investigating the use of nanorobots in this chemical mechanism, thereby reducing the levels of CO2 (greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere. However, if these nanorobots are not strictly confined to the sea floor, a “worst-case scenario” is envisaged, whereby the natural cell/device ratio could increase by many orders of magnitude, requiring a more diligent census effort. Another idea to counteract this effect is the use of census-taking nanorobots to identify, disable, knapsack or destroy the gray plankton devices.

As yet, the nature of the experimental robots requires them to be tested in largely controlled environments, in laboratory tanks. In a few years, they will be ready to test in the ocean. Eventually, nanobots could be deployed in the human body as artificial immune systems for people with impaired immune systems.

For more information visit the following sites:

news.nanoapex.com/modules.php

mrsec.wisc.edu/edetc/IPSE/Links.html

www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=2955

www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0142.html