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Sperm Could Power Nanobots

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the make-sure-you-pick-the-best-swimmers dept.

Lucas123 writes "According to MSNBC, scientists are experimenting with using a sperm's flagellum to overcome the problem of supplying energy to nanobots that could be implanted in the body as smart probes that would release disease-fighting drugs, monitor enzymes and perform other medical roles within a patient's body. Powered by a compound called adenosine triphosphate or ATP, a sperm's flagellum can propel it at about 7 inches an hour. Energy from ATP could also power the pumps charged with dispensing the medication at a certain rate from the nanobots."

4 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sperm life? by pembo13 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I could be wrong, but the vagina is a hostile environment to sperm -- it produces natural spermicides.

    --
    "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  2. Re:Sperm life? by Bryansix · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, they are all hostile. That is why sperm gels up in the seminal fluid shortly after release and then springs into black-ops when the coast is clear to enter the cervix.

  3. What a moronic story. by jonnythan · · Score: 4, Informative

    This isn't about powering nanobots with sperm. It's about looking at sperm's locomotive method and adapting it to nanobots.

    I'm not really sure why the article talks about sperm, specifically, but ATP is used all over the human body to do virtually everything, including move muscles.

  4. cookie cutter science by Goldsmith · · Score: 3, Informative

    Makes one (1) Tenured Professor:

    1. Find proteins.
    2. Attach to a surface (his tags work well).
    3. Make link to nanotechnology (half-baked links are easier).
    4. Put out a press release claiming to be the first person to put proteins on a surface.

    Congratulations, you're tenured!