Post by LSDeep on Jun 21, 2006 20:38:24 GMT -5
HOW WE'LL BE ABLE TO Hold Our Breath for an Hour
Weddell seals can stay underwater comfortably for more than an hour. As concrete-shoe wearers have discovered, humans can't make it past a few minutes. Why not? The seals don't have enormous lungs in comparison to humans--but they do have extraordinary blood, capable of storing great quantities of oxygen. Robert Freitas, a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Manufacturing, has published a detailed blueprint for an artificial red blood cell, which he calls a respirocyte. Injected into the bloodstream, these superefficient oxygen-grabbers could put the scuba industry out of business.
As Freitas envisions it, each respirocyte--a ball measuring a thousandth of a millimeter across--is a tiny pressurized gas tank. Inject the balls and they course through the blood vessels, releasing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide in the body's periphery and recharging themselves with oxygen in the lungs. Freitas says respirocytes would transport oxygen 236 times more efficiently than red blood cells--and a syringeful could carry as much oxygen as your entire bloodstream.
It seems like an oddball idea, but Freitas actually has some competition. A group of NASA-funded bioengineers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Minnesota have created double-walled artificial cells, called polymersomes, that can potentially float through the bloodstream loaded with cargo: cancer-zapping drugs, imaging agents--and, yes, extra oxygen. Durable, chemically controllable and biocompatible, polymersomes can be dried and rehydrated, which makes them appealing as an artificial blood. Unlike Freitas's O2-pumping nanobots, an oxygen boost from a polymersome would be a one-shot deal--one that would allow you to leave your diving equipment at home.
www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=3&c=y
Weddell seals can stay underwater comfortably for more than an hour. As concrete-shoe wearers have discovered, humans can't make it past a few minutes. Why not? The seals don't have enormous lungs in comparison to humans--but they do have extraordinary blood, capable of storing great quantities of oxygen. Robert Freitas, a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Manufacturing, has published a detailed blueprint for an artificial red blood cell, which he calls a respirocyte. Injected into the bloodstream, these superefficient oxygen-grabbers could put the scuba industry out of business.
As Freitas envisions it, each respirocyte--a ball measuring a thousandth of a millimeter across--is a tiny pressurized gas tank. Inject the balls and they course through the blood vessels, releasing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide in the body's periphery and recharging themselves with oxygen in the lungs. Freitas says respirocytes would transport oxygen 236 times more efficiently than red blood cells--and a syringeful could carry as much oxygen as your entire bloodstream.
It seems like an oddball idea, but Freitas actually has some competition. A group of NASA-funded bioengineers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Minnesota have created double-walled artificial cells, called polymersomes, that can potentially float through the bloodstream loaded with cargo: cancer-zapping drugs, imaging agents--and, yes, extra oxygen. Durable, chemically controllable and biocompatible, polymersomes can be dried and rehydrated, which makes them appealing as an artificial blood. Unlike Freitas's O2-pumping nanobots, an oxygen boost from a polymersome would be a one-shot deal--one that would allow you to leave your diving equipment at home.
www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=3&c=y
Wonder how far in the future this will be ready??
scary no more fancy stuff, no doubles to show off, the dive industry will go down, and we will be useless