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Nanotechnology: The Good, the Bad and the Possibly Very Ugly

First of all, what is nanoparticle? Although a nanoparticle is larger than an atom (the building blocks of all matter in the universe), it is still very, very small: It is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair - you could fit 1 million nanoparticles on the head of a pin. What our scientists have learned to do in the new field of nanotechnology is to manipulate nanoparticles and arrange them pretty much into whatever kind of stuff they want. Like a jigsaw puzzle or an Etch-A Sketch, a nanoparticle jiggled to this place and a nanoparticle shoved into that space will give you different things like, for example, anti-bacterial bandages, or the VS Nanotube Power Tennis Racket made by Babolet, swimming pool cleaners and disinfectants and wrinkle free fabrics. There are 13,000 patent requests in the US patent office right now with the word "nano" in them. But here are some nanoproducts that scare me - sunscreen with nanoparticles of invisible zinc which soak right into your skin, deep penetrating cosmetics and what really gives me a chill? Food products with the word "nano" in them.

There is also an ethical concern about nanotechnology. We seem to be able to build bigger and better weapons through nanotechnology. Do we really want to do that? And in medicine, it would be possible to enhance ourselves physically - we could be smarter, stronger, probably cuter and nanotechnology would give us other not-normal human abilities ranging from rapid healing to better night vision to better sex. Should those goals be pursued? Would those of us who could afford it strive to become a trans-human person like the Six Million Dollar Man or Woman? Would this mean that we would create two races of people - a wealthy race of modified uber-humans and a poorer population of unaltered people? This sounds scarily like the Nazi Eugenics program to me. But my burning question is this: Would it be covered by Kaiser?

Since I am a SciFi fan, I will describe a few scenarios of nanotechnology (and probably imagination) gone wild. "Apocalyptic Goo", as envisioned by Eric Drexler, the man who introduced the word nanotechnology into our language, is a frightening apocalypse where self-replicating nanorobots malfunction and duplicate themselves a trillion times over, rapidly consuming the entire world as they pull carbon from the environment to build more of themselves. Then there is the "Grey Goo" scenario, where a synthetic nano-size device replaces all organic material, and lastly, the "Green Goo" scenario where nanodevices made of organic material wipe out the earth. Some wonderfully comforting future scenarios for you to meditate on. (You're welcome.)

Bottom line: Say Nono to Nano! My advice is to not touch anything with a ten foot pole with the word nano in it if it 1) touches your skin 2) wants you to eat it 3) says "deeply penetrating" anywhere on the same label with the word "nano" on it.

On to another troubling subject: Genetically modified foods and possibly a strange new disease that is a result of GMO's, or perhaps even from nanomodified foods. I don't know how many of you saw maybe 2 or 3 years ago on a news program like 60 Minutes or Dateline about this horrible new disease called Morgellon's Disease? The Morgellon Foundation's website in February 2006 reported 2,000 victims and in February of 2007, that number had increased to 10,000.

No one really knows what Morgellon's is, or where it comes from but all victims have the same symptoms: According to the CDC, they all experience fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and social dysfunction sometimes leading to suicide. But the most bizarre symptom is this: They all describe it as a feeling of bugs scuttling around beneath their skin accompanied by skin lesions that heal slowly and... are you ready for this? The sores ooze out blue, black or white fibers that can be several millimeters long. They can be fine as spider silk, yet are strong enough to distend the skin when pulled and elicit shooting pains when they are removed. When analyzed, the "fibers" contain the substance agrobacterium, a genus of gram-negative bacteria capable of genetically transforming not only plants but also other eukaryotic species including human cells.

It appears that we are now teetering on the brink of a genetically modified, nano-particled earth-wide food disaster. Monsanto is the guilty party here - almost evil in it's abrogation of our right to personal good health and the continued health of the planet. They lie, cheat and steal with impunity, as long as it serves their bottom line. (Where is the whistle-blower when we need one?) Monsanto now calls itself a "life sciences" company to cushion its real purpose as a purveyor of earth and life-murdering chemicals. Monsanto is also deeply entrenched with Big Pharma: In 2000 there was a merger of Pharmacia & Upjohn with Monsanto and its G.D. Searle unit. No one seems to make the connection between Big Pharma and the sale of drugs, genetically modified foods, strange new diseases and the savage mistreatment of Gaia. It's all one nasty package, folks.

My Bottom Line: Take as few drugs as possible, cook from scratch with healthy ingredients, preparing most of your foods at home, and protest Monsanto, GMO's and our current agricultural travesty when you can. Oh, and pray.

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