Nanotechnology in the context of bioterrorism- Ursula Gibson

The shrinking of the microprocessor world, and the improved understanding that wi have of biochemistry on the molecular level, may be mated in the next 10-20 years in the appearance of ìsmartî biomolecular devices.   These can be envisioned either as offensive or defensive systems;  One can imagine a pathogen linked to a timer nanochip, so that the pathogen is assured wide dispersal before it becomes lethal, or one can imagine a host of nanodetectors, capable of analyzing biomaterials for possible threats.

 Nanotechnology is the  term used to describe the formation and application of systems that straddle the length scale between molecular and bulk systems.  In most cases, the nanodevice will display either quantum or statistical mechanical effects ñ variations in behavior that are not predicted by scaling the bulk laws down to the size of the device.  This is a double edged sword ñ detectors can be made with unprecedented sensitivity, but noise, control and readout are potentially problematic.  

State of the art:
Presently, it is more accurate in most cases to talk about nanoscience than nanotechnology, but this may be expected to evolve rapidly.  There are already several corporations that claim to be in the nanotechnology business. Several of these manufacturing machines that can probe matter with nanometer resolution, but there are a few startups that are looking at molecular assembly techniques that will permit the formation of nano- instead of micro-processors.  These could conceivably be linked to biological entities to make pathogens more insidious, however, the timescale for this development is quite long.  Also, the infrastructure required, at the moment, to produce any useful devices, is quite significant.  This may be expected to change with time, if some of the self-assembly ideas come to fruition.
There are many nanocluster systems that have optical and electronic properties that are exquisitely sensitive to their environment, and thus useable as detectors of unprecedented ability.  These can be combined with biospecific systems to detect molecules in the parts-per-billion concentration range.  It is most likely that this will be the first employment of nanotechnological systems in the near-term.  The first molecular switching and memory elements have been demonstrated, but with crude connection technology.

Possible realizations of nanotechnology in bioterrorism:
Timing circuits to activate pathogens after widespread dispersal
On-board computing to analyze the DNA of the target to attack a specific individual.?
On-board modification to adapt to environment?
Nano toxin factories?

Possible uses in counterterrorism
Ultrasensitive detectors
Adaptive toxin destructors
ìcell repair machinesî

Problems inherent in nanotechnology:
Connectivity, control, communication
Autonomy 
Power sources