Unfortunately I can not find out more about this, as I do not have access to the journals it was published in. Here is the abstract:
Abstract: Molecular manufacturing promises precise control of matter at the atomic and molecular level, allowing the construction of micron-scale machines comprised of nanometer-scale components. Medical nanomachines will be among the earliest applications. The artificial red blood cell or “respirocyte” proposed here is a bloodborne spherical 1-micron diamondoid 1000-atm pressure vessel with active pumping powered by endogenous serum glucose, able to deliver 236 times more oxygen to the tissues per unit volume than natural red cells and to manage carbonic acidity. An onboard nanocomputer and numerous chemical and pressure sensors enable complex device behaviors remotely reprogrammable by the physician via externally applied acoustic signals. Primary applications will include transfusable blood substitution; partial treatment for anemia, perinatal/neonatal and lung disorders; enhancement of cardiovascular/neurovascular procedures, tumor therapies and diagnostics; prevention of asphyxia; artificial breathing; and a variety of sports, veterinary, battlefield and other uses.
I have seen some numbers out there detailing the effectiveness of this artificial cell, although I do not know their accuracy. Apparently you could sit on the bottom of your pool for four hours or run at top speed for fifteen minutes without taking a single breath. I need to get a subscription to these damn peer reviewed publications.
Rob Freitas’ original paper was printed in ‘96, so I imagine there has been quite a bit of progress since then. Has anyone out there heard anything about this? I would be a little worried about any machinery that goes through the blood brain barrier, but this seems almost cool enough to risk being an early adopter.
Tags: Biology, medicine, nanomachines, nanomedicine, Nanotechnology, transhuman
December 4, 2007 at 3:50 pm |
I think propositions like this are dubious, simply because I’m not at all convinced that mechanosynthesis and molecular assembly are feasible. In terms of the numbers you mention, if you replace all of your normal red blood cells with these things and you can normally hold your breathe for 1 minute, then you could hold your breathe for 236 minutes, which is almost 4 hours.
December 4, 2007 at 4:52 pm |
Whereas I do believe that nanotechnology has a future, I share your skepticism about it being developed and utilized any time soon. It seems to me that genetic engineering would be a better method to employ here. They could engineer more efficient blood cells tailored specifically for the host, so that they would not be attacked out of hand by the immune system.
I’m no biologist, and have not read the article, but I suspect that the main problem would be the immune system attacking the new “nanotech cells”. It seems to me that you would have to replace the white blood cells as well as the red, and possibly quite a bit more.
Assuming you could get these things by the immune system, I think that it would probably be best to supplement the body’s red blood cells, just in case something went horribly wrong. I would be happy just replacing 10% of my cells and holding my breath for about 20 minutes or so.
All in all it’s a great idea with no end of beneficial uses, but it does seem like it might be a long time before we see any thing usable.