One Giant Leap for Medical Manufacturing

On September 28, two Silicon Valley-based high-tech firms joined forces to conduct R&D projects. Sounds like business as usual, right? Normally, yes. In this case, however, one of the companies, Google Inc., is known for its Internet search engines. The other group, NASA's Ames Research Center, has an excellent reputation for its research in support of NASA space missions.

What makes this event exciting for the medical device industry is the agreement's emphasis on bio-info-nano convergence. The Ames Research Center defines this as "the technology realm that capitalizes on nature's own solutions to complex problems, directed by advanced information technologies, and all accomplished on an ultrasmall scale." Simply put, it's where biotech meets infotech in a tiny space.

Current medical products that fall under the heading of bio-info-nano convergence include nanosized sensors and surgical tools. Still in development is the use of gold nanoparticles to detect cancer. Another potential use is a pill that diagnoses disease as it moves through the body. The possibilities are endless.

Critics suggest that the agreement is merely a real estate deal between Ames and Google, and that there's no real interest in forging an "intellectual interaction." Yet if you ask some medical OEMs about their work with Ames, you'll hear quite a few success stories. Last year, Biophan teamed up with the Center to develop a nanosized biothermal battery for use in implantable devices. MicroMed Technology and Ames came together to craft a heart pump for patients awaiting transplants. And BioLuminate is currently working with Ames to create a smart probe that provides real-time cancer detection data.

Even if the agreement is mainly motivated by money, it still has lasting benefits for all scientific disciplines, not just biotechnology. Because by joining with Google, whose mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible, the Ames Research Center has ensured that scientists, engineers, and designers everywhere will be able to tap into its knowledge and expertise with the click of a mouse. As Google's CEO Eric Schmidt puts it, "This could help broaden technology's role in making the world a better place."

Corinne Litchfield
Associate Editor, MPMN

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