Bangkok--24 Aug--Asian Institute of Technology
Human body cells communicate and interact with each other, and they can be viewed as nano-sized computing devices. Communication occurs at the molecular level, and if we program these molecules, they can act as transmitters and receivers of information.
Speaking on the emerging field of molecular communication was Dr. Sasitharan Balasubramaniam of Nano Communication Centre, Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, while delivering a talk on “Molecular Communication and the Future Perspectives on the Internet of Bio-Nano Things,” at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 19 August 2015.
Dr. Sasitharan stated that research is underway to use nanomachines to treat cancer. “Instead of chemotherapy, these nanomachines can deliver drugs to targeted areas, and this cuts the dosage by about 1000 times,” Dr. Sasitharan added.
Bacteria-based nanomachines are a hot topic of research, since bacteria have been found at heights of 30,000 feet above land, as well as depths ranging up to 1900 feet below sea level. Motility makes bacteria a useful asset, particularly their swimming, swarming, twitching, gliding and sliding abilities. However, their inability to adjust to the environment is a challenge that researchers are trying to overcome.
Adding that research in molecular communication is a recent development, having emerged in 2010-2011, the subject area is also expanding to other fields like biological sensor networks, food toxicity and environmental monitoring. Similarly, creating an Internet of Bio-Nano Things and Body Area Networks (BAN) makes it a very exciting field.
Earlier, Dr. Matthew Dailey of Computer Science and Information Management (CSIM), while introducing Dr. Sasitharan informed the audience that the speaker had spent a considerable part of his childhood at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), where his father served for 27 years as a faculty member.