Thirty Essential Nanotechnology Studies - #9
Overview of all studies: Because of the largely
unexpected transformational power of molecular manufacturing, it is urgent to
understand the issues raised. To date, there has not been anything approaching
an adequate study of these issues. CRN's recommended series of
thirty essential studies
is organized into five sections, covering fundamental theory, possible
technological capabilities, bootstrapping potential, product capabilities, and
policy questions. Several preliminary conclusions are stated, and because our
understanding points to a crisis, a parallel process of conducting the studies
is urged.
CRN is actively looking for researchers interested in
performing or assisting with this work. Please contact CRN Research Director
Chris Phoenix if you would like more information or if you have comments on
the proposed studies.
| Study #9 |
What
will be required to develop biological programmable manufacturing and
products? |
| |
This study would
explore the various steps involved in harnessing biology to produce
engineered products.
[Answers in italics are provided by
Robert Bradbury.] |
| Subquestion |
How much
time and effort would be required to develop the ability to design
predictable protein folding, possibly by introducing novel amino acids? |
| Preliminary answer |
Unknown, but a
novel protein fold has been successfully designed and tested. Increasing
computer power will make this rapidly easier. |
|
It would not
be difficult to integrate novel amino acids using a standard protein
synthesis robot. It is more difficult to integrate to integrate them into
bacteria, but it has been done. |
| Subquestion |
How
difficult would it be to automate all steps of new-protein synthesis? How
long would a fully automated system need to produce and characterize a new
protein? |
| Preliminary answer |
New protein
synthesis is already automated (its a volume/cost issue that can be a
hang-up -- which is why bacteria are used to produce things like insulin,
antibiotics, etc.). The NSF is pushing rapidly on the automation of the
characterization problem (everything from X-ray crystallography to computers
figuring out the structure). I've read that they are trying to push it to
30,000 structures per year. Though I'm not sure if I can believe that number
-- if you look at the growth of the contents of PDB it may be a reality in
the near future. |
| |
There are
structures that are difficult to characterize -- these are usually proteins
that normally reside in cell membranes of one form or another. So it's a
limited subset -- perhaps 20-30% of all proteins. Some novel techniques have
been reported for dealing with this but this is ultimately just going to
require a lot of work and clever ideas. |
| Subquestion |
What
software support must be developed to allow design and testing of novel
protein-based machines? |
| Preliminary answer |
Tough question
-- we already have the software to design proteins (and the machines to
manufacture at least the smaller ones). Testing isn't really a problem. The
problem is the creation of a 'novel' machine design. |
| Subquestion |
How much
time and/or research will be required before we know how cell
signaling/differentiation/gene expression works? |
| Preliminary answer |
We know how
gene expression works reasonably well (something like three classes of
transcription factors, the structures of which tend to be very standardized,
etc.). We also know a lot about signaling and differentiation. We've
got hundreds of extracellular molecules and receptors pinned down at this
point. The problem is the molecules involved within the cell from the
membrane to the nucleus. These are very complex. There is a company in
Germany that has worked out much of this in yeast and the #1 priority on the
NIH Nanomedicine goal list is to extend this to determine all of the protein
complexes in humans. |
| Subquestion |
How can cell
toxicity or metabolic interference from novel chemicals be predicted and
avoided? |
| Preliminary answer |
This is relevant
because one method of protein synthesis involves using gene-spliced cells to
synthesize the protein. However, there are ways of manufacturing proteins
that do not require cells. |
|
The simple
answer is knowledge of the structures of most if not all of the enzymes,
receptors, etc. in the body, knowledge of the structure of the novel
chemicals and a heck of a lot of computer power to see when/how the
structures can interfere. A more complex answer would involve actual
toxicity tests at a MEMS scale level to determine when chemicals interfere
with the functioning of a protein. (This isn't too different from the work
that has been done to synthesize large chemical/drug libraries -- but
requires that one understand the metabolic pathways involved and devise
individual tests to see when there is interference.) |
| Conclusion |
This deserves further investigation.
|
| Other studies |
1.
Is
mechanically guided chemistry a viable basis for a manufacturing technology?
2. To what extent is molecular manufacturing counterintuitive and
underappreciated in a way that causes underestimation of its importance?
3. What is
the performance and potential of diamondoid machine-phase chemical
manufacturing and products?
4. What is the performance and potential of biological programmable
manufacturing and products?
5. What is the performance and potential of nucleic acid
manufacturing and products?
6. What other chemistries and options should be studied?
7. What
applicable sensing, manipulation, and fabrication tools exist?
8. What will be required to develop diamondoid machine-phase chemical
manufacturing and products?
10. What will be required to develop nucleic acid manufacturing and
products?
11. How rapidly will the cost of development decrease?
12. How could an effective development program be structured?
13. What is
the probable capability of the manufacturing system?
14. How capable will the products be?
15. What will the products cost?
16. How rapidly could products be designed?
17. Which
of today's products will the system make more accessible or cheaper?
18. What new products will the system make accessible?
19. What impact will the system have on production and distribution?
20. What effect will molecular manufacturing have on military and
government capability and planning, considering the implications of arms
races and unbalanced development?
21. What effect will this have on macro- and microeconomics?
22. How can proliferation and use of nanofactories and their products
be limited?
23. What effect will this have on policing?
24. What beneficial or desirable effects could this have?
25. What effect could this have on civil rights and liberties?
26. What are the disaster/disruption scenarios?
27. What effect could this have on geopolitics?
28. What policies toward development of molecular manufacturing does
all this suggest?
29. What policies toward administration of
molecular manufacturing does all this suggest?
30. How can appropriate policy be made and implemented?
|
| Studies should begin
immediately. |
The situation is
extremely urgent. The stakes are unprecedented, and the world is unprepared.
The basic findings of these studies should be verified as rapidly as
possible (months, not years). Policy preparation and planning for
implementation, likely including a crash development program, should begin
immediately. |
