![]() ![]() And yet, ever since the two of us started our careers at Intel more than 20 years ago, we’ve been hearing the alarms that the descent into the infinitesimal was about to end. ![]() Perhaps the most far-reaching technological achievement over the last 50 years has been the steady march toward ever smaller transistors, fitting them more tightly together, and reducing their power consumption. The idea being that if the nanoparticles can be made to target certain cells (like cancer cells) it may be possible to heat them up with the magnetic field and kill them.Īs attractive as this specific targeting of cancer cells sounds, I am always a bit leery of this kind of treatment after reading George Whitesides’ succinct point on this subject “Cancer cells are abnormal cells, but they’re still us." Now before some NGOs get the wrong end of the stick on this one and start dreaming up dark scenarios of nanotechnology controlling the minds of both man and beast, the purpose of this research is not only to better understand the signaling networks controlling animal behavior but also for developing better cancer treatments and diabetes therapies. The heat then opens up calcium ion channels in the cells, which in turn activates neurons, causing the worms to recoil (see video below). We’re only talking about the ability to have remote control over the behavior of worms here, and merely getting them to recoil at that.īut it is true that researchers at the University of Buffalo have managed to attach nanoparticles to the cell membranes of worms and then heat those nanoparticles up by exposing them to a magnetic field. Let me settle you down a little after the headline above.
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