How to capitalize on the potential of nanotechnology and avoid their potential negative consequences? That was the question Christine Peterson asked when she founded the Foresight Institute, a nonprofit nanotechnology think tank thirty years ago. And now, she says, this question continues to guide her. Over the past ten years, nanotechnology has made significant progress and has found some practical application. Some are developing nanoscale designs for medical implants that could stimulate bone cell growth and positive gene expression. Others are working to create manageable nanoparticles that could detect and even destroy cancer cells.
The idea of nanomachines that travel through your body and repair it at the cellular level has come closer to reality thanks to the development of nanomotors and nano-rockets. But before we get to them, Peterson believes there are other interesting implications for nanotechnology. For example, self-cleaning surfaces and nanotech catalysts that will trap greenhouse gases and convert carbon dioxide into the substances that factories need.
Late last month, Peterson spoke at the Global Summit in San Francisco. In this interview, you will find out how, in her opinion, nanotechnology will help us solve the problem of water, cancer treatment and lead us to a brighter future.
Nanotechnology Today: A Vague Point on the Exponential Curve?
I divide nanotechnology into three stages: materials, devices, systems. Each of them follows its own curve. At this point, we see mostly nanoparticle products, but they don't have accuracy on a molecular scale - they are not atomically accurate. As this parameter improves, we will see the emergence of materials with such precision, especially in filtration and catalysis.
Once such products hit the market, we will see them explode like a rocket. The demand for clean water is enormous. The demand for greenhouse gas management is huge. Whoever comes to these goals first, the result will be positive.
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Explain nanotechnology to a stranger on the street in a nutshell
Nature manipulates individual molecules to create the world's most complex things - plants, animals, and our own bodies. The challenge for nanotechnology is to use molecular machine systems to create whatever we want with the same level of precision, and to do it as cleanly as nature.
In 2013, you predicted that advances in nanotechnology in the next ten years in medicine will have a significant impact on cancer detection, imaging and treatment. What advances in nanotechnology have been the most important for medicine over the past couple of years?
It has taken a huge effort - hundreds of millions of dollars - to use nanotechnology to fight cancer, and the effort is paying off.
Many different groups, such as the Stanford Center for the Advancement of Onkonanotechnology, are experimenting with nanoparticles to try to get useful behaviors from them, such as transmitting a color signal when a cancer cell is found or attaching to a cancer cell until it is studied. They can also be programmed to release a special signaling molecule when a cancer cell is detected.
Many more unusual reactions can be created in the laboratory. For example, a nanoparticle can absorb light and create a low-power acoustic vibration when a tumor is detected, or release heat to destroy a cell.
Which clinical trials are most encouraging for you?
One of my favorites is MagArray. It attaches nanomagnets to cancer cells and then identifies them with a sample on a chip. It takes less than an hour and requires minimal technical training. In addition to cancer, this method can be used to monitor cytokines, which is useful when working with Alzheimer's and autoimmune diseases.
Of course, if we can fight cancer - and we certainly can - Alzheimer's will become an even bigger problem than it is now. Just fighting cancer won't be enough. We need to keep working and deal with all chronic diseases.
Are there new “smart materials” that are being tested in nanotechnical devices and which could soon replace modern technologies? If so, which ones?
For example: I like the idea of self-cleaning materials. The University of Cambridge is working to create surfaces in which photocatalytic titanium dioxide nanoparticles are embedded. They use ultraviolet light to convert surface dirt into carbon dioxide and water. A drop of oil the size of a fingerprint on such a surface is removed in an hour and a half.
One day we will have metal implants that are not suitable for many purposes. The University of Montreal and partners have found a way to create nanoscale patterns on the surface of such implants, and they can increase the growth of bone cells, reduce the growth of unwanted cells, stimulate the development of stem cells and change gene expression in a positive way. Amazing. Many of these uses have literally disappeared from the pages of science fiction.
In Australia, RMIT and the University of Adelaide are working on materials that use nanoscale crystals - dielectric resonators - to transmit or block light of a specific wavelength. This can lead to the creation of contact lenses that change what we see, or even the creation of a head-up display that shows additional information in our field of view. Finally, I can remember the names of people I have met before.
When you co-founded the Foresight Institute, what were your inspirations? What question worried you at that time?
Then I was worried about the question: how to extract colossal benefits from the possibilities of nanotechnology and avoid possible negative consequences, just as colossal?
We would like to accelerate the development of advanced medical and other positive applications and prevent the military from developing at the same rate. Understanding the power of nanotechnology in improving the quality of life and especially medicine has come a long way, but due to various restrictions, medical use is constantly being delayed. In the military sphere, the opposite is true: the military gets early access to new technologies and military applications are financed ten times better.
Combine these trends, and it becomes clear why it is difficult to accelerate the development of medical applications of this technology and simultaneously slow down the development of the military. This is a difficult task.
It was 2025, how did nanotechnology improve the environment?
By this time, and perhaps even earlier, there may be two major breakthroughs. First, we can solve the water problem using molecular precision filtration. This technology is already being developed by the private company AquaVia with support from the National Science Foundation.
Secondly, we can clean the air of pollution, including greenhouse gases, with the help of nanotechnical catalysts that remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into chemicals that can be used in industry. This is what Christian Schaffmeister of Temple University is working on.
Almost any environmental problem that can be imagined can theoretically be solved using advanced nanotechnology. It was this dream of environmental restoration that pushed me into this field decades ago, and it is good to see that it is finally starting to come true.
What can stop us in the next 10 years?
Both of these prospects are definitely on the way. The only question is when. We need to invest more resources in R&D. There are talents, there are ideas, the issue is funding.
What is your favorite “smart object” of the future?
I usually turn to thought experiment. Imagine a chair made up of molecular machine systems. These machines can be rearranged into another shape, such as a table. How long will it take for them to change form from one to another? You can easily imagine this experiment, since you yourself are composed of molecular machines.
Imagine yourself squatting down to form a chair and then dropping down on all fours and becoming a "table." The entire operation takes less than a second. This is the maximum time it takes for an advanced nanomaterial chair to become a table. It can be faster if you set such a goal.
But my dream is a "cell repair machine" that can move around the body and repair DNA, proteins and other molecules. Building such a car will not be easy. It will take a lot of removable tools that can be loaded and unloaded as needed. But she could analyze and then solve almost any physical problem in our bodies, including aging.
ILYA KHEL