I Built A Billion Nanotech Devices Yesterday, And So Did You

Monday, November 03, 2003 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: nanotechnology, immune system, health news

I chose this article because it offers a well grounded summary of the fundamental issues facing nanotechnology. As the article states, the requirement for social acceptance of each new technology isn't that the technology works, it's that the society believes in it.

Do people believe in nanotechnology? Primarily, yes. It's very scientific sounding. Very precise. It requires all sorts of complex engineering and lots of capital investment. But if this is so, why don't people believe in the nanotechnology that already exists?

Huh? What do I mean? I'm talking about the microscopic devices already present in the bodies of every human being. We have devices that repair tissue, that diagnose and treat disease, that kill invaders and that even "learn" what those invaders look like so they can capture them more easily next time.

Every human being alive already has this nanotechnology: it's called the immune system. And yet few people actually "believe" in this form of nanotechnology. The immune system is the great unsung hero of human health.

Through nanotechnology, doctors and scientists are essentially trying to create a secondary immune system that can be injected into patients' blood and go to work. But why not just support the immune system that's already there?

Too often, modern medicine works to destroy the existing immune system rather than support it. Chemotherapy, for example, consists of injecting a non-lethal dose of deadly poisons into a human being. Those poisons obliterate the patient's immune system. This is especially bewildering, since a stronger immune system has the ability to tackle cancer and keep tumors in check.

But getting back to the point here, why don't scientists and researchers work with the existing nanotechology that's already present in every human being? I'll tell you why: because nobody gets a big career boost boost from it. You don't get a billion dollars in funding by talking about the immune system. You get it by painting a science fantasy picture that includes really smart scientists building microscopic machines that challenge nature, not that complement it.

Small devices power big egos, it turns out. At least in the politics of nanotechnology. But I offer that nature has far better nanotechnology than mankind could ever produce, and if we would spend more time finding ways to support nature rather than trying to control it, we'd all be healthier and far more "advanced."

Analysis: Nanotechnology is currently being hyped up by researchers seeking big grants. But in the medical field, the promise of nanotech overlooks the existing biological, nature-powered nanotechnology already present in every human being alive.