From: Grant Callaghan (grantc4@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon 17 Feb 2003 - 15:46:02 GMT
The following article is a good look at what the application of memes to
genetic science is doing to change our lives in the future. I can envision
biology labs being converted to computer production and fuel cells that
convert things like methane to hydrogen and oxygen. From there it's a small
step to convert those elements to electrical energy. Just imagine what the
use of common materials to manufacture computers in relatively impure
environments is going to do to companies like Intel with their multibillion
dollar FAB factories.
Friday, 14 February, 2003, 23:32 GMT
Biology to make mini machines
By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent
Computers of the future will be built not by factory machines, but by living
cells such as bacteria.
That at least is the vision which has been outlined by scientists speaking
at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in
Denver.
They have described how wires can now be made by yeast organisms, and how
solar panels could be built using substances produced by sea sponges.
Researchers believe these kind of technologies will be essential if we are
to continue to shrink the size of electronic devices.
Science of the small
Plants and animals produce an extraordinary variety of chemical substances,
all designed to help them in their lives. But some of these substances -
proteins or other kinds of molecule - might also be useful in the
electronics industry, as it seeks ways of making silicon chips smaller and
faster.
Another potential application is nanotechnology - science which is done at
the scale of just billionths (nano) of a metre.
Materials fabricated at this level have unusual electrical and optical
properties but are costly to produce. Getting the "machinery" that already
exits in biological organisms to do the work has obvious advantages.
Some of the molecules that scientists are now investigating come from
unlikely sources. Susan Lindquist, director of the Whitehead Institute in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, is using yeast to produce tough wires.
"We're using a protein from yeast that is actually called yeast prion," she
said.
"It resembles the prions that are responsible for mad cow disease. They form
long, long fibres.
"They are very thin - just 10 nanometres in width. But they go on for
thousands and thousands and thousands of nanometres in length."
Dr Lindquist has discovered how to coat these strands of prion protein in
gold and silver so they conduct electricity.
Captured rays
Through genetic engineering, it should be possible to make the protein
strands - and so the wires - in different shapes and configurations, perhaps
even forming entire electronic components.
Another researcher speaking here, Daniel Morse from the University of
California, found a number of years ago that substances developed by sea
sponges could be used to make silicon-based materials.
He has now discovered that the same substances could potentially make a new
generation of solar cells.
They make a material, a special kind of titanium dioxide, which is very
efficient at turning the Sun's rays into electricity.
Dr Morse believes that making devices through biology rather than through
factories would have other benefits, including for the environment.
Human ingenuity
He said: "Biology and bio-catalysis offers the prospects of synthesis
without the recourse to toxic chemicals that are presently the basis of
human manufacturing of silicon-based materials today."
Computers made with these natural processes are not just around the corner -
it will be many years before the technologies can be developed that far.
But sea sponges and yeast offer us the possibility of making devices
smaller, cheaper and cleaner than human ingenuity could develop on its own.
Perhaps we should not be surprised, says Susan Lindquist. After all, nature
has been working on the problem for a lot longer than the human brain.
She said: "For a long time man has been harnessing horses to plough and
we're just beginning to understand how to harness molecules to other kinds
of purposes and just the prospect of being able to do this for the benefit
of mankind is really an exciting thing."
Grant
_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon 17 Feb 2003 - 15:44:04 GMT