On the Edges of Science and Law

Nanobots!

By Jake Meyer

Nanotechnology is a vague term that encompasses a wide range of technologies.  Some of the technologies may be as mundane as a material used to strengthen a tennis racket, such as the carbon nanotubes used in the Babolat NS Drive Tennis Racket.  But the term nanotechnology is also used to include inventions that appear to be science fiction.  One possible use of nanotechnology is to create tiny robots that can be introduced into the human body to a number of medical procedures such as: deliver drugs, clean arteries of cholesterol, or to transport oxygen in the blood stream.  Although it may be many years before we have tiny robots coursing through our veins, advances in science and technology are bringing medical nanorobots closer to reality. 

An article in published in Nature last week, titled "Miniature Devices: Voyage of the Microrobots," describes how scientists at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems in Zurich, Switzerland may have overcome three obstacles in the way of realizing a future filled with medical nanorobots – "how to make, power, and steer them."  To propel the robot, the scientists created an artificial flagellum – a biological propeller that allows bacterium to swim.  The artificial flagellum is attached to a magnetic "head," and when the robot is placed in an oscillating magnetic field, the flagellum spins, propelling the robot through liquids at a blazing speed of 1-2 micrometers per second.  The magnetic field that provides the power for the robot also provides a method for controlling the robot.  By changing the direction of the magnetic field, the direction of the movement of the robot is changed. 

Nanotechnology Could Make Blood Glucose Monitoring Less of a Pain

By Jake Meyer

In our lifetime, we may see nanotechnology offer improvements in nearly every facet of modern life.  The field of medicine is no exception and nanotechnology research looks to provide technology breakthroughs that will change the way diseases are treated.  Nanotechnology has the potential to improve the treatment of malignant diseases like cancer.  For example, U.S. Patent No. 6,727,065 describes a quantum dot which attaches itself to a cancerous tumor and upon exposure to infrared radiation releases a substance toxic to the tumor.  Nanotechnology also has the potential to improve the treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes.  Diabetes affects millions of Americans and recent nanotechnology research may lead to a new way of monitoring blood glucose that doesn't involve sticking yourself with a needle.

Researchers at Purdue University have created a biosensor which precisely detects blood glucose.  The biosensor is composed of a single-wall carbon nanotube attached to a gold-coated "nanocube."  The nanocube acts as a sensor and the carbon nanotube acts as a wire to carry electrical signals to electronic circuitry.  The design has been referred to as a tether ball and is well-suited for sensing applications because the sensing portion of the system extends out from the rest of the system allowing it to contact target molecules more easily.  Attached to the nanocube is an enzyme called glucose oxidase.  When the enzyme is in the presence of glucose and oxygen there is an electrochemical reaction that generates an electrical signal, which then travels along the carbon nanotube.

Space Elevators and Carbon Nanotube Patents

  By Jake Meyer

Space elevators are a simple idea that could make transporting passengers or cargo into space relatively easily and inexpensively as compared to our current method of space transport – igniting millions of pounds of fuel to blast a rocket out of our atmosphere.  Most concepts for a space elevator involve a tether anchored to the earth, for example on a floating platform somewhere in the Earth’s oceans.  The tether would stretch 100,000 kilometers or so from Earth, past the Earth’s atmosphere and into space where the tether would be attached to a large counterbalance.  This counterbalance would orbit the Earth while the centrifugal forces from the earth’s rotation would keep a constant tension on the tether.  Under a constant tension, the tether could be used as a rail for a lift or "climber" that could ascend the tether into space carrying with it a payload of cargo or passengers.
 
Besides making space transport inexpensive, space elevators could also solve our need for environmentally friendly energies.  Space elevators could be used to install large solar power satellites in space that could provide us with inexpensive and continuous energy.  These types of projects are not feasible with our current rocket technology.

EPA Announces Regulations for Carbon Nanotubes and Nanoparticles: Regulates Nanomaterials as Chemicals

  By Jake Meyer

On October 31 and November 5, 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced regulatory policies relating to nanotechnology.  The EPA defines nanotechnology as involving “research and technology development at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nanometer range; the creation and use of structures, devices and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small size; and the ability to control or manipulate matter on an atomic scale.”  Despite the EPA’s recognition of “novel properties and functions” due to the size of nanotechnology, the EPA appears to be regulating nanotechnology as if it were more ordinary than extraordinary.  The EPA’s October and November 2008 regulations apply the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA), which is used to regulate chemical substances and mixtures, to nanotechnology.

The TSCA classifies chemical substances as either an “existing” chemical substance or as a “new” chemical substance.  A company must file a notice with the EPA 90 days before manufacturing or processing “new” chemical substances.  “Existing” chemical substances are also subject to a 90 day notification requirement if an activity is a “significant new use” of the “existing” chemical substances.  The notification provides the EPA with an opportunity to evaluate the chemical substance and if necessary, to limit or prohibit use of the chemical substance.  If a chemical substance is considered an “existing” chemical substance without a “significant new use,” then there is no notification requirement.