THE BRAVE NEW NANO WORLD
Will it be a fantastic voyage or micro mayhem?
By David Edwards
Daily Mirror
April 29, 2003
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IT'S a "mini miracle" that could end disease and make trips to the moon cheaper than a flight to Spain.

Yet some are branding it evil, a threat could lead to the extinction of mankind...

It's nanotechnology, a way of creating tiny machines - nano-robots - 1/80,000th of the width of a human hair.

It means that in 20 years, we could have mini submarines swimming through the bloodstream - as depicted in the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage - zapping tumours and keeping us healthy for ever, or a new plastic so lightweight it will make cheap trips to the moon a reality.

Utopian? Then why are some predicting dire consequences?

"It's no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of the further perfection of extreme evil," claims Bill Joy, co-founder of US computer giant Sun Microsystems.

"It's an evil whose possibility spreads well beyond that which spawned weapons of mass destruction.

"We are opening Pandora's most terrifying box and people have barely begun to notice. We are designing technologies that might consume eco-systems."

The biggest fears centre on attempts to make nano-robots which can self-replicate - or breed - by feeding on the atoms around them.

Critics say a "grey-goo" scenario could occur if millions replicate themselves unchecked, transforming every atom on the planet into yet another nano-robot.

The result? Planet Earth becomes a blob floating in space, lifeless apart from a few trillion microscopic machines.

Dr K Eric Drexler, of the US-based Foresight Institute, says: "If the first replicator could assemble a copy of itself in 1,000 seconds, the two replicators could then build two more in the next 1,000 seconds.

"At the end of 10 hours, there are not 36 new replicators, but more than 68billion.

"In less than a day, they would weigh a ton, in less than two days they would outweigh the Earth, in another four hours, they would exceed the mass of the Sun and all the planets combined."

AUTHOR Michael Crichton, who outlined the dangers of genetic engineering and biological warfare in Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, has also warned about nanotechnology in his latest novel, Prey.

The thriller focuses on a swarm of microscopic machines which escape from a lab and mutate to create self-replicating nano-robots which threaten to wipe out life on Earth...

Science fiction is, it seems, about to become science fact.

So where is the hero who can save the planet before it's too late?

Step forward Prince Charles, who is now taking a stand against a billion-dollar industry, which has already created transistors the size of a molecule.

The Prince fears that without regulation, playing with the building blocks of life could be catastrophic.

His concerns were sparked by Zac Goldsmith, editor of The Ecologist magazine, who sent him a report, The Big Down, warning of the nano-nightmare.

Mr Goldsmith, 28-year-old son of late billionaire Sir James, says: "There are labs all over the world trying to create self-replicating machines and for them to do this without proper legislation is deeply worrying.

"We still don't know what could happen if they are released into the environment, so we should put the brakes on and have a proper debate before it's too late."

He warns: "The potential threats posed by nanotechnology make those from genetically modified food look like something from the Stone Age." After reading the report, the Prince wrote to the Royal Society - the UK's scientific academy - asking it to set up a meeting with experts so he can assess the risks.

The concept of nanotechnology was dreamt up by quantum physicist Richard Feynman way back in 1959, when he predicted the computers of tomorrow would be small enough to manipulate single atoms or carry out surgery, invisibly, cell by cell.

Today, scientists believe nanotechnology can create faster computers, lighter spacecraft and planes so efficient they'll adjust to airflow like a flexible skin.

It has already been used in Pilkington's self-cleaning glass and the Stirling-based Institute Of Nanotechnology says that applications about to be unleashed include invisible bar codes and self-repairing materials.

NANO research is also being backed with government funding to the tune of £2.48billion in the US, Europe and Japan. The figure is expected to rise to £600billion by 2012.

Indeed, many experts and MPs support the development and believe Charles has no reason to worry.

MP Dr Ian Gibson, chairman of the Commons Science and Technology select committee, says: "The Prince has been reading too much science fiction and, in any case, the technology is nowhere near ready to be used in the way he is saying.

"Things are in the exploratory phase and to kill it off now would be akin to killing off research into the electric lightbulb, the combustion engine or drugs such as aspirin.

"It looks like the Prince has allied himself with the anti-science movement and if I were him, I'd stick to modern architecture and issues like that, rather than those which require a depth of understanding."

Science minister Lord Sainsbury has also defended the research, adding: "There are things that could be worrying but they're things very much in the future.

"Self-replicating organisms that could get into the environment, nano-robots in the body and so on are at the speculative science-fiction stage.

"The other point is whether nanotechnology raises ethical, safety or environmental issues not already regulated for.

"We already have rules about the release of organisms into the environment, we have health-and-safety regulations, we have medical-devices regulations."

So is it a small wonder or a hidden threat? Whatever the case, some massive rows loom before we see the full impact of nanotechnology.

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