The Promise of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is a relatively new science that is making waves in cancer research. This technology creates useful materials, devices and systems on an incredibly tiny scale in order to manipulate matter, which gives science a brand-new approach to understanding the complex systems inside human cells.

From a cancer-research perspective, the possibilities are exciting. That's because the processes leading to cancer occur at the nanoscale, so they have been extremely difficult to identify and understand in the past. But this new ability to create tiny devices that can access the interior of a living cell is expected to offer unprecedented gains in cancer research and treatment. The National Cancer Institute isn't shy in envisioning significant and perhaps life-changing advances in early detection, molecular imaging, therapy, prevention and control of cancer in the next five years — all due to nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology wouldn't be possible, however, without information technology. And, as nanotechnology moves forward, IT is key in the effort to create biomedical devices based on the technology. Modern computing systems, for example, have the ability to capture, store and analyze the vast amounts of data needed to create and use nano devices.

The devices themselves — and other types of computing products — could also literally be transformed. Just think: If processes can be developed in which memory can be embedded on nanosized particles, the memory capacity of a computer could approach the capacity of the human brain.

But the possibilities of nanotechnology go far beyond what IT can do for science, and tantalize us with the wonders of what our future could look like. Just as airplane travel was barely a dream 100 years ago, our descendants 100 years from now might not be able to imagine what life was like without nanotechnology. Will they be using computers embedded into their skin? Perhaps that's fantasy. But perhaps it's not. Nanotechnology is opening up the world in a billion ways.

For your biotechnology and pharmaceutical staffing needs, contact Sheri Breitstein, Vice President of Client Development at The Connors Group, at sheri@theconnorsgroup.com or 201-537-0030.