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"SAN FRANCISCO - 3-D printing, used to construct everything from art to toys to spare parts for the space station, may one day produce human organs at a hospital near you. click image to enlarge A 3-D printed prosthetic nose and ear are displayed at an industry show in London in November. The technology may eventually help reduce organ shortages. Bloomberg News photo by Chris Ratcliffe Select images available for purchase in the Maine Today Photo Store The 20-year-old technology uses liquid materials that become hard as they print out three-dimensional objects in layers, based on a digital model. Current medical uses are in dentistry, for hard-material crowns, caps and bridges, as well as prosthetics. Last year, a 3-D printer was used to create a structure from moldable polymer that replaced more than 75 percent of a patient's skull. Now, Organovo Holdings Inc. is using 3-D printers to create living tissue that may one day look and act like a human liver, able to cleanse the body of toxins. Drugmakers and cosmetic companies already plan to use 3-D printed human tissue to test new products. Eventually, the technology may help reduce organ shortages and cut transplant rejections as patients receive new organs constructed from their own cells. "3-D printing is like a new tool set," said Organovo Chief Executive Officer Keith Murphy. "You can make a living tissue you can grow outside the body. That's the core of our technology. How can you be smart about doing that?" Organovo already is preparing to sell strips of liver tissue to drugmakers this year to be used to test toxicity of potential treatments, Murphy said in a telephone interview. The San Diego-based company's five- and 10-year goals are first to use a patient's own cells to print tissue strips that can be used to patch failing organs, and finally to be able to create entire new organs. The first 3-D printer was produced in 1992. Since then, a variety of materials have been used as the t

"Advantages of Solar Power? Solar energy is a clean and renewable energy source. Once a solar panel is installed, solar energy can be produced free of charge. Solar energy will last forever whereas it is estimated that the world's oil reserves will last for 30 to 40 years. Solar energy causes no pollution. Solar cells make absolutely no noise at all. On the other hand, the giant machines utilized for pumping oil are extremely noisy and therefore very impractical. Very little maintenance is needed to keep solar cells running. There are no moving parts in a solar cell which makes it impossible to really damage them. In the long term, there can be a high return on investment due to the amount of free energy a solar panel can produce, it is estimated that the average household will see 50% of their energy coming in from solar panels.   Disadvantages of Solar Power? Solar panels can be expensive to install resulting in a time-lag of many years for savings on energy bills to match initial investments. Electricity generation depends entirely on a countries exposure to sunlight; this could be limited by a countries climate. Solar power stations do not match the power output of similar sized conventional power stations; they can also be very expensive to build. Solar power is used to charge batteries so that solar powered devices can be used at night. The batteries can often be large and heavy, taking up space and needing to be replaced from time to time."

this is the the definition of the human genome. "The human genome is the complete set of genetic information for humans (Homo sapiens). This information is encoded as DNA sequences within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. Human genomes include both protein-coding DNA genes and noncoding DNA. Haploid human genomes (contained in egg and sperm cells) consist of three billion DNA base pairs, while diploid genomes (found in somatic cells) have twice the DNA content. While there are significant differences among the genomes of human individuals (on the order of 0.1%), these are considerably smaller than the differences between humans and their closest living relatives, the chimpanzees (approximately 4%[1]) and bonobos."

"Dying patients could someday receive a 3D-printed organ made from their own cells rather than wait on long lists for the short supply of organ transplants. Such a futuristic dream remains far from reality, but university labs and private companies have already taken the first careful steps by using 3D-printing technology to build tiny chunks of organs. Regenerative medicine has already implanted lab-grown skin, tracheas and bladders into patients - body parts grown slowly through a combination of artificial scaffolds and living human cells. By comparison, 3D-printing technology offers both greater speed and computer-guided precision in printing living cells layer by layer to make replacement skin, body parts and perhaps eventually organs such as hearts, livers and kidneys."

A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. this means that when nanomites they will be so small that we wont even e able to see them through a microscope. "In order to understand the unusual world of nanotechnology, we need to get an idea of the units of measure involved. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter, a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, but all of these are still huge compared to the nanoscale. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair"

"In order to understand the unusual world of nanotechnology, we need to get an idea of the units of measure involved. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter, a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, but all of these are still huge compared to the nanoscale. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair [source: Berkeley Lab]. As small as a nanometer is, it's still large compared to the atomic scale. An atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm. An atom's nucleus is much smaller -- about 0.00001 nm. Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in our universe. You and everything around you are made of atoms. Nature has perfected the science of manufacturing matter molecularly. For instance, our bodies are assembled in a specific manner from millions of living cells. Cells are nature's nanomachines. At the atomic scale, elements are at their most basic level. On the nanoscale, we can potentially put these atoms together to make almost anything" Nanotechnology is measured in a nanometer, which is one-billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology is extremely small, and can help create something from something not seen with human eye.

""We are developing smart drugs that determine which are the cancer cells and which aren't, then selectively kill only the cancer cells."'

mighty mouse cell

he has written numerous books about medicine. "Robert Paul Lanza (born 11 February 1956) is an American medical doctor, scientist, Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT)[1] and Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine."

"Over the last five years, technology has been rapidly changing and expanding in every field imaginable. Smart phones are now capable of acting as standalone computer devices that can take pictures, search the Internet, send emails and text messages and yes, they even make phone calls. While it might seem that the technology of today has reached its limits, it is still actually spreading its proverbial wings. Only twenty or so years ago, personal computers were becoming small enough and affordable enough for families to buy them for home use. Since then, the world of technology has shown no signs of slowing down and practically every device available today is somehow tied to computer technology. It seems hard these days to fathom the original size of computers and how small they have become in the last ten years, but within the last five years they have become even smaller and somehow more powerful and faster than ever before! The Internet allows people to connect with family, friends, and work colleagues from across the globe in the push of a button. Communication options have literally exploded in the instant avenues of text and video based chat as well as the near instantaneous method of email. Gone are the days where one had to post a letter and wait a week or more for a response and long distance phone calls are unnecessary for anyone with a computer, a webcam, and a speedy Internet connection. Automobiles are now being manufactured with standard GPS and emergency call features for the convenience and safety of drivers and their passengers, making the days of carrying a map completely unnecessary and improving the peace of mind of anyone who must travel the roads alone or at night. Computerized cars are now potentially at risk in much the same fashion as a personal computer as a moderately skilled hacker can theoretically take over basic functions of a vehicle - including its engine. Yes, technological advancement has changed our lives completely, and not al

"But nanotechnologists think they have an answer for treatment as well, and it comes in the form of targeted drug therapies. If scientists can load their cancer-detecting gold nanoparticles with anticancer drugs, they could attack the cancer exactly where it lives. Such a treatment means fewer side effects and less medication used. Nanoparticles also carry the potential for targeted and time-release drugs. A potent dose of drugs could be delivered to a specific area but engineered to release over a planned period to ensure maximum effectiveness and the patient's safety." Nanotechnology can be a better, more efficient way of getting rid of cancer cells.

This seems like a great website to use. It backs up all of its statements with facts, so we know we can rely on it. I know this source will come in handy later because it actually explains how nanotechnology is used in some medical fields. I also know this is reliable because they list the sources that they used. This seems like a very official site to use.

"The "ink" in the bioprinting process employed by Organovo is composed of spheres packed with tens of thousands of human cells. These spheres are assembled or "printed" on sheets of organic biopaper." This is a very interesting video on how organ printing is accomplished. It describes how the use of bio-ink can enable us to create a functioning structure out of thousands of human cells, and it does this through clear descriptions and footage. It gives you a look inside of a lab where 3D organ printing is being created and introduces you to a scientist who is highly experienced in the field. We know it is reliable because in the description it tells us all about the man who made these predictions, Dr. Gabor Forgacs. This will be highly beneficial during our research by helping us understand how 3D printing works.

This summarizes the trends in the chapter of medicine. "Future of Medicine Near Future: Genomic Medicine, Medical Scanners, Stem Cells, Midcentury: Gene Therapy, Designer Children Far Future: Reversing Aging, Immortality, Bringing Back Dinosaurs & Neanderthals, Germ Warfare"

Review of the book giving insight into each chapter

Review of the book giving insight into each chapter

the term nanotechnology was coined back in the 80s by K. Eric Drexler. I'm sure at the time it wasn't much more than a science fiction dream, but now it is a very real technology. "When K. Eric Drexler (right) popularized the word 'nanotechnology' in the 1980's, he was talking about building machines on the scale of molecules, a few nanometers wide-motors, robot arms, and even whole computers, far smaller than a cell. Drexler spent the next ten years describing and analyzing these incredible devices, and responding to accusations of science fiction. Meanwhile, mundane technology was developing the ability to build simple structures on a molecular scale. As nanotechnology became an accepted concept, the meaning of the word shifted to encompass the simpler kinds of nanometer-scale technology. The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative was created to fund this kind of nanotech: their definition includes anything smaller than 100 nanometers with novel properties."

"A basic definition: Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products." This is the definition of what nanotechnology is-building something from almost nothing.

"Q: You believe that within about two decades, nanotechnology will replace the computer industry as the field of the biggest technological innovations, right?"

" The book is good enough to stimulate our imagination."

"How has the approach toward nanotechnology changed as we've learned more about nature?"

This website focuses all on one branch of nanotechnology: nanobots. The website lists the wide variety of jobs nanobots can do, from cleaning entire kitchens while no one is home to being injected in the bloodstream to kill cancer cells before they form a tumor. This website seems to be very official and is entirely dedicated to spreading the knowledge of every part of nanotechnology. I recommend everyone in nanotechnology to look over this website, because it has such a vast array of knowledge on the topic.