I, Nanobot

Salon has a fascinating article on their site about nanobiobots. Nanobiobots are the fusion of nanotechnology and biotechnology, which presumably will eliminate of the barrier between living and nonliving materials. As the result of this new technology, we will produce not mere cyborgs, but true hybrid artificial life forms, manifestations of synthetic biology. The potential biomedical benefits are astonishing, but the risks are at least as horrible to contemplate. Are we really ready for this? Is this the next step of evolution? What do you think? I linked to a long but very interesting article about this topic (below the fold).

Okay, you have to watch an annoyingly loud flash commercial for The Sopranos (turn down your volume), but after you have suffered through that, you get a free site pass to Salon, where you can read this absolutely fascinating article, I, Nanobot (5 pages), which describes this emerging new technology that many view as the next stage of human evolution. [If you have trouble seeing the article, let me know and I can email a PDF to you. But if I do that, you must promise to comment here]

This technology raises important questions, for example, if these nanobiobots can modify us, there is no reason to assume that we cannot modify them, too, so what might happen if some of these nanobiobots escape? Will this technology change our view of what is life? Can all critical information be stored in the DNA/RNA of a living thing?

Thanks, Sara!