My Novels

Monday, January 13, 2003

I've spent another busy day. Had some early shopping and errands, then back home to go on the bike ride, and clean the house. I'm sort of a neat-freak; I keep a very tidy, clean house. Perhaps this makes up for my hatred of cooking? I hope so! At any rate, I got all that done and it's now nearly 3:00. I wonder how I could ever find time to write fiction; it seems lately I'm lucky to make entries in this journal!

I read a fascinating article early this morning online. I usually eat my bran cereal breakfast while checking my email and the latest news, etc. online. Anyhow, I like to stay updated on what is going on in the field of science and electronics/technology. So many people forget that these two fields have vastly improved our daily lives, all due to human intelligence and dedication. Yet when they need medical help and/or the latest help that science/technology supplies, they sometimes attribute it to 'God.' Oh please!

So here's the link and an excerpt to this interesting article. Check it out yourself, if you have time:

Death is an Outrage by Robert A. Freitas Jr.

EXCERPT
What is Nanomedicine

The greatest advances in halting biological aging and preventing natural death are likely to come from the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology. That is, nanomedicine. Nanomedicine is most simply and generally defined as the preservation and improvement of human health, using molecular tools and molecular knowledge of the human body.

In the near term, say, the next 5 years, the molecular tools of nanomedicine will include biologically active materials with well-defined nanoscale structures, such as dendrimer-based organic devices and pharmaceuticals based on fullerenes and organic nanotubes. We should also see genetic therapies and tissue engineering becoming more common in medical practice.

In the mid-term, the next 5 or 10 years or so, knowledge gained from genomics and proteomics will make possible new treatments tailored to specific individuals, new drugs targeting pathogens whose genomes have now been decoded, stem cell treatments to repair damaged tissue, replace missing function, or slow aging, and biological robots made from bacteria and other motile cells that have had their genomes re-engineered and re-programmed. We could also see artificial organic devices that incorporate biological motors or self-assembled DNA-based structures for a variety of useful medical purposes.


And that's it for today. Oh, I'm looking forward to watching "Hunger Point" on Lifetime TV tonight at 8:00 central time zone. I read the book years ago (actually found it at Dollar General for a buck) and liked the insight into anorexia.





No comments: