nanometers, or about 15 body-lengths, each

second-and it's reversible, too. "It's a tri-

umph of engineering," gushes Blair. To
The Apostle of
tease out the motor's "parts list," Blair has
been altering genes coding for proteins in
the motor and studying the effect of each
Nanotechnology
change. So far, the only part he's clearly
identified is the "fuel injector"-a proton K. Eric Drexler has made it his mission to tell the world how
channel that provides the motor's energy far molecular-scale technologies could be taken
source-but he expects to be able to nail
down parts corresponding to a rotor, stator,
motor mount, and transmission. K. ERic DREXLER LIKES TO THINK OF HIMSELF an endless stream of books, encyclopedia
Blair notes that transferring the motor as a technology visionary with a message the articles, and technical papers, spawning
intact to a different structure would be dif- world can't afford to ignore. In a matter of nanotechnology study groups at universities,
ficult, but he doesn't rule it out. He also decades, he says, the fabric of human culture giving dozens of lectures around the world,
points out that the motor seems to be con- will be in for a drastic reweaving by protein- and even speaking to Congress, Drexler has
structed of molecular rings that might be sized machines capable of manufacturing, probably done more to raise public con-
useful by themselves as tinker-toy-style con- molecule by molecule, anything an engineer sciousness about nanotechnological possibili-
nectors or as "junction boxes" in other might design within the constraints of na- ties than any other scientist. Along the way,
structures. "Or maybe we can use the motor ture. Over the past 10 years, Drexler's tireless he has attracted a nationwide stable of devo-

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to make really tiny CD players," he says. promotion of that vision has turned him into tees who see the future exactly as he does.
"Just kidding." "Mr. Nanotechnology," at His promotional zeal
To install the motor in a larger structure, least in the public eye. isn't confined to the popu-
or to assemble any combination of switches, To some researchers lar realm, however. When
reaction chambers, and other biomolecular working in the field, how- a dozen or so established
widgets, the well-equipped bionano- ever, he is anathema. "The researchers who are push-
engineer will need a scaffolding. And for man is a flake," says Phillip ing the envelope in build-
that purpose, New York University bio- Barth, a microdevice de- ing molecular-scale struc-
chemist Nadrian Seeman thinks DNA may veloper at the Hewlett- tures and devices shared
be just the thing. Seeman credits his original Packard Company in Palo their work with another
idea that DNA could be coaxed into a lattice Alto. Others, such as elec- 100 or so scientists, on-
structure to an M.C. Escher print that sug- trical and microengineer lookers, and journalists in
gested a scheme for interweaving the DNA Richard S. Muller of the Palo Alto earlier this
strands. Last year, by altering key sequences University of California, month, for example, they
in the molecule, he got an assembly of DNA Berkeley, fear that Drex- did so at Drexler's invita-
branches to fold itself into a cube, and he's ler's fantastic descriptions tion. And some main-
confident more complex structures will soon of future technologies will stream researchers give him
follow. "The next step is to have other plant unrealistic expecta- credit for that kind of ef-
molecules associate with the DNA," he says. tions in the minds of the fort. Robert Birge, a re-
"Then you could have molecules with elec- public, policy makers, and Nanotechnology spected player in molecu-
tronic properties riding the DNA into place, grant committees. And
some bench scientists sim-
"vill bring lar electronics at Syracuse
University, says Drexler
forming circuits."
The idea of trying to subvert DNA's func- ply think Drexler, who changes as pro- "has gotten a lot of people
tion, transforming it from genetic material does his "exploratory en-
into molecular assembler, may strike some gineering" research by
found the in-as to think about what might
be possible." Birge also
biologists as audacious, even irreverent. But pushing ideas to their dustrial revolu- praises Drexler for getting
bionanotechnologists are getting used to theoretical extremes and
their colleagues' raised eyebrows. Even one running molecular model-
tion, antibiotics, people in different areas of
molecular science to talk
Japanese funding group's stated goal of as- ing programs through and nuclear to one another. "If there
sembling biomolecular circuits into a work- powerful computers, rather weapons all
ing replica of what may be nature's most than by building working
in has been a flaw, it is that he
hasn't submitted his ideas
exquisite mechanism-the human brain- devices, is just plain wrong one." -Eric Drexler to refereed journals where
fails to affront as it would have just a few in his visions of what might he would get feedback to
years ago. "When I first heard about that, I be. tone down his ideas."
thought they were crazy," says Stanford's But whatever they might think of him, Toning down is just what Drexler's popu-
Boxer. "Now I look at it like people once many scientists agree that the bookish, soft- lar writings seem to invite. Take his first
thought about going to the moon, or build- spoken, 36-year-old Drexler has had an im- book, Engines of Creation: The Coming
ing the SSC. It's, well, interesting." pact on their field. An independent theoreti- Era of Nanotechnology, published in 1986,
* DAVID H. FREEDMAN cian and occasional lecturer at Stanford Uni- in which hypothetical protein- and or-
versity, Drexler wields formidable organiza- ganelle-sized machines "bring changes as
David H. Freedman is a free-lance sci- tional skills and an ability to communicate profound as the industrial revolution, anti-
ence writer in Brookline, Massachusetts. ideas to nontechnical audiences. By writing biotics, and nuclear weapons all rolled up
1310 SCIENCE, VOL. 254
 I I ~ - e

into one massive breakthrough." Among
Drexler's minute epoch-makers are life-pro-
longing molecular machines that tour the
cells of the human body and repair proteins
gone bad, and solar-powered nanofactories
that yank greenhouse gases like carbon di-
oxide out ofthe air, spit out oxygen, and put
the carbon atoms back into the coal and oil
reservoirs whence they came.
No surprise that such ideas didn't exactly
get rave reviews from other researchers, but
Drexler, undaunted, is still painting the same
scenarios 5 years later. The just-published
Unbounding the Future: the Nano-
"The notion ofmolecular nanotechnology
gelled in my mind in the spring of 1977,"
Drexler remembers. To him, the way seemed
open for what he calls molecular nano-
technology: constructing analogous, non-
biological molecular machines for large-scale
manufacturing on Earth and in space.
"It [this conviction] was exciting at first,
but then increasingly disturbing," Drexler
said. The cold war was still roaring and "I
started seeing potential down sides"-gov-
ernments developing nanotechnological war-
fare, for example. "I decided not to say much
began rising among non-
scientist technophiles, scientists began sitting
up and taking notice-sometimes bemused,
sometimes enraged.
Since then, as Drexler has pursued his
mission to prepare the world for molecular
nanotechnology, he's built bridges to main-
stream research. From their spartanly fur-
nished house in Los Altos, for example, he
and Peterson-an MIT-trained engineer-
direct the 1000-member Foresight Institute,
which they founded in 1986. Besides keeping
its members informed about scientific, politi-
w cal, and other developments related

technology Revolution (which Drex- W to Drexler's predictions and spread-

ler coauthored with Chris Peterson, a ing the word to the public and to
his wife and fellow nanotechnology _ policy makers, the institute also holds
aficionado, and Gayle Pergamit, a X technical conferences like the one early
story teller friend) spins a tale of mo- Z this month. Drexler has even set up a
lecular "assemblers," capable of start- nanotechnology funding source: the

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ing with atomic and molecular ingre- Institute for Molecular Manufactur-
dients and turning them into such ing (IMM), founded this year with
things as super-strong tents complete $175,000 in seed money from an un-
with cooking facilities and air condi- named donor. The IMM is meant to
tioning, which future Red Cross serve as a vehicle for raising grant
workers might deliver to disaster ar- money and sponsoring research "to
eas. And why not? ask Drexler and his speed the development of molecular
devotees. To them, summary rejec- manufacturing or molecular nano-
tion of such scenarios just shows that technology."
the nay-sayers haven't considered Drexler is also making an effort to
their philosophical and scientific appear more credible in the eyes of his
grounding. critics. He finally earned a Ph.D.-in
Like other futurists, Drexler molecular nanotechnology-from
stresses the value of trying to come MIT 2 months ago, and he has writ-
up with plausible pictures of the near ten a technical tome called Nano-
future to give context to today's de- systems: Molecular Machinery,
cisions and head off problems before Manufacturing, and Computations,
they arise. That's a habit of mind, he to be published next year by Wiley &
says, that comes in part from his Sons, says Drexler. He contends that
college and graduate years at the the book, which is self-consciously fat
Massachusetts Institute of Technol- with equations and theory, will pro-
ogy, where he earned a master's de- vide a firm theoretical grounding for
gree in 1979 for work on "space Gear iin tomorrow's nanomachinery?A hypothetical wheel the futurist tales he has been spinning.
industrialization engineering." of carlbon atoms, designed by Drexler and Ralph Mern Wle. "This book will get people to say
"People in that field plan concretely molecular nanotechnology is real,"
10 years out, and think seriously 20 and 30 about it." But he changed his mind, he says, predicts Ralph Merkle, a fierce Drexler cham-
years out," he remarks. when he began to see hints of his vision pion and a full-time molecular nanotech-
Drexler's graduate years planted the seeds appearing in published research. Open, co- nology researcher at Xerox's Palo Alto Re-
of his current obsession by giving him a operative development, he decided, would search Center.
chance to "filter feed" on books, articles, be the best hope for reaping nanotech- But will all these efforts win Drexler
and courses all across the technical land- nology's benefits and managing its risks and ungrudging acceptance in the mainstream?
scape. "I ended up learning a lot about social consequences. He outlined his vision in Probably not. Barth of Hewlett-Packard
chemistry, materials science, and manufac- his first paper, "Molecular Engineering: An speaks for hardliners when he dismisses
turing, and thinking a lot about chemical Approach to the Development of General Drexler's vision of nanotechnology: "You
transformations," he says. One set of trans- Capabilities for Molecular Manipulation," might as well call it nanoreligion." But the
formations that seemed to open realms of published in September 1981 in the Proceed- same messianic energy that feeds Barth's
engineering possibilities were those of mo- ings of the National Academy of Science. suspicions also means that, like him or not,
lecular biology, in which nanometer-scale Reaction from the scientific community researchers in the field may have to reckon
biomolecular machinery under the guid- was sparse, he remembers, but the nonscience with Drexler for a good long while. By then,
ance of data stored and read out by DNA sector saw something in it. Smithsonian the future will have arrived and Eric
and RNA crank out all the materials and magazine, for example, asked him to write a Drexler's foresight or folly will be on full
structures of living things. simpler version for a 1982 issue. As his stock display. * IvAN AMATO
29 NOVEMBER 1991 NEWS REPORTS 1311