For years, science fiction writers have envisioned a world where computers with practically infinite memory run at lightning- speed, Earth and space rovers transmit signals instantaneously and doctors pinpoint individual cancer and HIV pathogens with astounding accuracy.
This world is not far away.
The nanotechnology field is rapidly expanding and focusing on manufacturing a wide array of products, such as tennis balls and microbiological tools.
Nanotechnology is “the ability to work at the molecular level, atom to atom, to create large structures with fundamentally new molecular organization,” according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
Nanotechnology provides scientists and manufacturers with the ability to manipulate atoms and molecules in nanometers, or one billionth of a meter.
But the latest groundbreaking research is not being conducted at Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It is happening at Boston University.
WHAT DOES BU HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
Physics professor Raj Mohanty, director of the Mohanty Group, has been studying nanotechnology at BU since he arrived four years ago.
The Mohanty Group, comprised of about 10 undergraduate and graduate students, has made ground-breaking findings unique to both the university and the world.
The Mohanty Group has developed the fastest moving mechanical structures at the nano level in the world.
To do this, the group took objects nanometers wide that move at very high speeds and cooled them down to .006 degrees Kelvin.
“You can exploit that quite a bit in terms of studying fundamental physics or applications,” the College of Arts and Sciences professor said. “The idea is to build structures that are large in terms of the number of atoms and molecules they have and cool them down so that they can exist in multiple places at the same time, and you can actually detect that.”
Mohanty, who has been studying nanotechnology for 10 years, said he is constantly working to fix problems with the intricate and fickle machinery used to cool the structures.
“There are problems on a daily basis in every research field,” he said. “You spend close to 80 or 90 percent of your time problem-solving, and if you’re lucky, 10 percent of the time things work. But that’s all you need, really.”
That 10 percent has provided research-based awards for the Mohanty Group.
Mohanty said many people are considering using nanotechnology for applications ranging from medicine to machinery.
“It could involve, for example, biosensing of diseases at a very sensitive level,” he said, “or you can imagine having applications in cellular phones and other types of communication systems.
“People are also thinking about long-term applications, like quantum computing,” Mohanty added.
Technology that exists on the nano-scale can hold more memory and take up less space, allowing the basic operations computers perform today to happen much faster.
FUNDING CONTROVERSIAL RESEARCH
Most funding for nanotechnology research comes from government agencies and private foundations. Although scientists want to conduct greater nanotechnology research, funding is very competitive and often hard to get.
Kamil Ekinci, principal investigator of the Lab for Nano-Scale Engineering said funding his research group is one of the biggest issues hindering further exploration of the “nanomechanical” devices the group builds. According to Ekinci, the funding process is more complicated than it needs to be. To receive funding, a research group must fill out a proposal and send it for review before an unknown panel.
“The funding rate is very low,” the College of Engineering professor said. “Essentially, people try over and over again to get funding.”
Information can be distorted during the funding process, Ekinci said.
“Funding is very competitive, and most of the time funding decisions are based upon not the science but the PR,” he said. “People will go out of their way doing self-promotion and stuff like that.”
Funding is also difficult to receive from private foundations because many people are skeptical of nanotechnology’s supposed promises. However, Mohanty said opposition to nanotechnology research is no different than opposition to any other issue.
“For everything, you’ll find pros and cons,” he said. “It’s a question of convincing enough people to go along with you. When it involves funding, because there is only a finite amount of funding, it becomes a little more difficult, people become more passionate because it cuts into something else.”
According to an American Council for United Nations University statement titled “Environmental Pollution and Health Hazards Resulting From Military Uses of Nanotechnology,” possible negative effects of nanotechnology include the spread of diseases through inhalation and dispersion of nanofiber particles from weapons. These fibers can cause environmental pollution and contamination of food and water.
Ekinci said he disagrees with skeptics of nanotechnology who warn of another negative effect, the chance of “nano-robots” taking over humankind.
“That’s a ridiculous idea,” Ekinci said. “The National Science Foundation has a program to actively fight these ideas and those people who are saying these things.”
Ekinci said most people who oppose the research of nanotechnology do not understand the benefits it can bring.
“I find it nonsensical for people to say things like that because people don’t really understand what’s going on,” he said.
LIFESAVING TECHNOLOGY
The Mohanty Group is working with biosensors to make a structure so small that it becomes highly sensitive to single protein molecules inside the blood stream, such as viruses or bacteria.
“We’re trying to develop sensors for cancer detection,” Mohanty said.
Identifying these molecules early on in the stages of cancer development increases the chances of successfully dealing with the disease, he added.
Breast and skin cancers are usually detected through physical examination, often after it is too late for treatment.
“We have a couple of grants for breast cancer detection,” Mohanty said. “We have a group of students working in that area.”
Mohanty said it may be possible to implant sensors smaller than the width of a hair throughout the body to detect molecular diseases without any side effects.
Mohanty said one of the problems with nanotechnology research is that the field does not guarantee absolute success because it is relatively new.
“You don’t know if it’s ever going to pan out,” he said. “But if you don’t try, you’ll never know. Our goal is to give it a good shot.”
Because of the uncertainties of the field, Mohanty said nanotechnology is one of the most difficult areas to study. This yields constant problems in everyday research.
“You just get a cup of coffee and get going,” he said, “and you get tired at the end of the day, go to sleep, get up in the morning, get another cup of coffee and get going. If you believe in some things, you just keep going.”
