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Public lecture to examine pros and cons of nanotechnology

November 04, 2005

Dust mite and nanogears Some have claimed it will one day cure cancer, others that it will destroy the universe in a mass of grey goo. It is called nanotechnology, and Professor Max Gunter, a chemist at The University of New England, will be talking about it at a public lecture to be held at the Armidale Town Hall on Tuesday, November 8.

In the lecture, titled "Molecular Machines and Nanotechnology: Hype Challenging Reality", Professor Gunter will discuss the potential benefits – and pitfalls – of the emerging science of nanotechnology, which involves creating tiny, working machines only a few thousandths of a millimetre in size.

Professor Gunter said he chose the topic of nanotechnology because while many people had heard of it, few understood what it was about, and that uncertainty had led to fear in some quarters. He said he would attempt to explain nanotechnology in his lecture, and describe some of its positive and negative aspects, while also dispelling myths, including the “grey goo” doomsday scenario.

“People are worried this is some sinister technology scientists are attempting to impose on them, and what they want to know is, is it a good thing or a bad thing.” Professor Gunter said.

“Right now there are two trains of thought on the matter. One approach is very gung-ho about developing nanotechnology, and looks forward to a future where it will allow us to do all sorts of things. The other side is worried about issues such as self-replication and this virus-like capacity to expand and somehow take over the world.”

Professor Gunter said that, despite these fears, nanotechnology had many positive uses, and was already being used to develop treatments for certain diseases.

“In biological systems great advances are being made in the ability to send 'nanobots' [tiny virus-like robots] into the bloodstream, that will home in on specific diseases, and can be programmed to seek and destroy specific cells,” he said.

Such treatments might one day be used to fight cancer and AIDS, Professor Gunter said. This same technology could be used for evil, however, if it were to fall into the wrong hands, he said.

Professor Gunter and his students have been conducting their own research into nanotechnology at UNE, creating nanoscopic components such as switches and “tiny motors, complete with wheels spinning around an axle”. These components constituted a “shopping basket” of tools that could be used by nanotechnologists in their research, he said. He will describe some of this research in his lecture.

Professor Gunter completed a PhD in chemistry at The University of New England in 1975. After some years of postdoctoral positions in the UK, he spent seven years as a research fellow at the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University, before returning to UNE in 1984. He was head of the Department of Chemistry from 1994 to 1998, and has been the Convenor of Chemistry at UNE since 2001.

The lecture begins at 7.30pm and will be followed by a light supper.

For more information contact Professor Max Gunter on (02) 6773 2767 or Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771.

Posted by Leon Braun at November 4, 2005 04:43 PM