Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!ames!ptsfa!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!soma!kent From: kent@soma.bcm.tmc.edu (Kent Hutson) Newsgroups: sci.misc Subject: Re: Grey Goo that's too smart for its own good Message-ID: <3278@soma.bcm.tmc.edu> Date: 10 Dec 87 21:41:15 GMT References: <799@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <2698@drivax.UUCP> <1063@sugar.UUCP> <2411@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <1445@m-net.UUCP> <1526@mmm.UUCP> <2783@drivax.UUCP> Reply-To: kent@soma.UUCP (Kent Hutson) Organization: Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx Lines: 30 Keywords: nanotechnology foresight drexler In article <2783@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: >In some respects, the AIDS viruses look like engineered nanomachines. Forgive me, but I don't quite understand that statement. Could you explain in more detail. When you talk of nanotechnology, does that include genetic engineering? You might also be interested to know that AIDS vaccine testing will begin in 1988 at six different centers in the U.S. Unfortunately, however, Dr. Robert Couch, director of the center here, said an AIDS vaccine is not likely to be available to the public before the mid-1990's. [information from Nov. 1987 issure of Baylor Medicine] >serious cellular-level nanotechnology, such as repair of damaged DNA, >and should enable us to deal with cancer and other viral disorders. There is very promising research being done in the area of DNA repair right now, here at Baylor College of Medicine. For example, there are researchers trying to use viruses as a vehicle to deliver functional DNA to the proper sites in a living animal's genome in hopes of correcting for the animal's own genetic defects. One of the problems (of many) is finding a form of the virus that won't mutate back into a pathogenic form. This sounds like what you consider to be a problem with nanotechnology. I still don't understand the difference between "nanotechnology" and present-day genetic engineering. Kent -- Kent Hutson Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas kent@soma.bcm.tmc.edu