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MIT Researcher Enlists Bacteria To Assemble Nanotech Materials
The Register reports on an approach to nanotech that combines biological computing with micro-mechanics, embodied in the work of MIT associate professor Timothy Lu. Lu's research has resulted in the creation of tiny structures assembled using modified E. coli. "Specifically," says the article, "the MIT researchers were able to put bacteria to work producing conducting biofilms, some of which were studded with quantum dots, and arranging gold nanowires. This paves the way for the development of mass manufactured cell-based material factories, and even 'living materials' that have some of the desirable properties of bones or trees, Lu confirmed." His most radical idea, says Lu, is furniture that shapes itself to cushion the user's most-stressed areas.
"furniture that shapes itself to cushion the user's most-stressed areas"... the Bene Gesserit have had those for years.
H1Bacteria
Table-ized A.I.
I am thunderstruck by the irony of the mind-blowing promise of this technique and the "most radical" use that the lead author can dream up (according to the Register, anyway, which has a reputation to me of overhyping a story and burying leads): A comfy chair made of high-tech volatile-memory foam which needs to eat.
Another irony: the original TFA appears to be paywalled so we mortals get to read the Register's digest of it. Maybe some advanced-degree reader of Nature can come up with some more original (and profitable, to boot) use for this technique. I mean, quantum dots, gold nanowires and such can conceivably lead to computational devices, can't they? Can this be used to extend Moore's Law further into the future?
E.Coli of the world, unite !
I specifically remember some 30 years ago reading in a Who's Who of Marvel, this was exactly how Iron Man assembled his armor so that he could put in all the layers needed for electronics, protection, etc. Once nanotech became the big buzzword I assumed they had already explored this and decided it wasn't possible.
David 'Volk' Mc. Itazura!
I for one welcome our bacteria assembled overlords!
(...)
Snails teeth made of dislocation free incredibly high strength iron is a pretty amazing existing use of metal assembly by an organism without even getting into possibilities. Scaling up something like that (or scaling it up with other materials) has a lot of potential even before getting into possibilities of design right down to the microscopic level - not just composite materials but incorporating electronics and tiny mechanisms.
Drexler wrote a lot about those sort of possibilities in a few very easy to read books and kicked off a major nanotechnology craze, not to mention plenty in SF. How did a tech journalist manage to avoid that?
There's a lot of stuff going on at the microscopic level that makes things harder than at the macro level. For instance tiny gears stick together a lot more than large ones due to different forces being proportionally higher at that scale. The same thing that helps geckos cling to the ceiling makes it difficult to turn microscopic gear wheels.
On a different note it's relatively trivial to lay down material for a semiconductor junction that's only one atomic layer thick (eg. chemical vapour deposition), but getting it a few atoms wide is a very different story.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how Michael Crichton's novel "Prey" is set into motion...
Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
to apply modern science in a manner similiar to that described in 'Copernick's Rebellion'?
Anybody who hasn't read it yet, should. Provides some insight into both the bros and cons of potentially crafting all our household items out of biological components, and the consequences of our hubris in regards to taking the benefits of biology and nature without giving back in kind.
Can You explain this Anjimile Mtila Oponyo
http://www.guruvinodji.com Anjimile Mtila Oponyo
I think Michael Crichton predicted this...
The average gut is about 8.5m long. Which equates to about 35.25MHz on the E-M scale. Plus "lesser" harmonics. Hm.
Captcha : "A-colyte" :p
"the MIT researchers were able to put bacteria to work
Hasn't slavery been illegal in the US for many years? Did anyone ask the bacteria if they wanted to work, and has the AFL-CIO been able to lobby them for unionization?
I'm not sure having e.coli as slaves is a good thing, especially in chairs. The first naked guy who sits on one will introduce the slaves in the chair to the free bacteria, and there may be a mass exodus of slaves from the chair up into the land of freedom and free food.
Michael Crichton's Prey anyone?