NanoInnovation: What Every Manager Needs to Know

11Nanomimicry: Cool Things We Can Do with Nanobiology

A biological system can be exceedingly small. Many of the cells are very tiny, but they are very active; they manufacture various substances; they walk around; they wiggle; and they do all kinds of marvelous things – all on a very small scale. Also, they store information. Consider the possibility that we too can make a thing very small which does what we want – that we can manufacture an object that maneuvers at that level!

– Richard Feynman, “There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom”

In his classic 1959 presentation to the American Physical Society at Caltech, Richard Feynman mentioned both nanocomputing and maneuverable nanorobots. This is a great example of what a visionary pioneer can do with an educated mind, an innovative spirit, and a sense of what's possible. Some of Dr. Feynman's challenges were accepted during his lifetime. Some are just beginning to be realized now.

By turning his vision into a challenge, Dr. Feynman extended his personal reach more than half a century into the future. Today we are accepting his original challenge, crediting him with jump-starting the field of nanotechnology, and fulfilling a dream that started with “thinking small” and continues even farther into the future.

One of the most intriguing concepts originally raised by Dr. Feynman involves engineering and designing functions that are common in biological systems. This is known today as “biomimicry” or “biomimetics.”

While many of the ...