I thoroughly support designing a nanotech major. I am an undergraduate and majoring in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology and Mathematics. My research interest is nanomedicine. I had trouble finding appropriate classes that will help me learn about nanotechnology. I read articles, journals, and magazines and collect them for an informational blog I am planning to develop soon over the summer. Molecular Biology is important for understanding future applications of nanomedicine. I think one should take advance cell biology, chemical engineering, calculus-based physics, biomedical engineering classes to build a solid foundation in nanotech.

The reason why biology is an integral part of nanotech lies under its enormous potential in pharmaceuticals, medicine, and materials. It is important to have a multifaceted view of nanotechnology. It is going to diverse and expand to include several fields together. It is one of the most far reaching technological revolutions we have.

I think all of the classes you have mentioned will develop you into a powerful and prepared molecular nanotechnologist in the future. I think learning about DNA should be covered sufficiently in any molecular biology class. DNA arrays are going to be very hot over the next years.

Best of Luck to you. It is encouraging to see you are one of the many people venturing into nanotech as an undergrad…bravo!!!!

Payal!

I'm a physics PhD student at UC – Riverside in the Bartels group in Chemistry. I current have a master's in Physics. Ever since I heard about nanotechnology, specifically mechanosynthesis and the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (which is to my knowledge the only instrument that can currently due true atomic manipulation and imaging) I've been working to realize Feynman's and Drexler's dream of a molecular assember, since 1997. So, as an undergraduate to prepare myself at the University of Washington, I got degrees in Physics, Applied Math in Scientific Computing, and a minor in Chemistry with not such a great GPA 3.10. I would really suggest to you to have a powerful understanding of physics. As you probably know, all the other disciplines of science and engineering can be seen as subdisciplines of physics. If you choose to focus on chemistry or electrical or mechanical engineering you can do this in your graduate program. It is extremely difficult to go from the other disciplines 'up'. Even my girlfriend, who is a physical chemist at UC Irivine, finds it difficult to make the transition to chemical physics. Yet, I TA for physics and chemistry classes. So, get a degree in Physics take the full version of Quantum, E&M, thermo, statistical, classical, optics and really know your stuff. Now for the chemistry background I would really recommend general chemistry sequence and organic chemistry, P. Chem isn't necessary if you get a degree in Physics. And if you want to learn biology talk a professor into letting you take Molecular Biology or biochemistry (although I have no experience with these). In reagards to mathematics, in my experience, most even, experimental physicists are rather weak in this area, especially Americans. Don't allow your fears to rule your life, several of the greatest physicists were great mathematicians. And if you want to realize the dream of nanotechnology, the two most important things I've learned after 7 years of following the dream (check out http://www.chem.ucr.edu/groups/Bartels to see my research group, I'm sure you'll see which one is me). is patience and practice practice practice. (If it takes 5 or 6 years to get your BSs then so what!) Hope this helps, Robert

You could take a look at the curriculum for nanotechnology in denmark, several universities have both undergraduate and graduate education. Most of the information is avaiable in english. http://www.inano.dk http://nano.ku.dk

> Since the energy is the basic potentiality of
> matters on viewing the duality of matters for its
> mass, the assumption of pyrophosphate bond in
> relevant to the formation of ATP may get modified
> when new nano-scale materials are assumed, on the
> basis of energy conservation principles.

If anybody here understood this statement, please explain it to the rest of us. jayakar has the most incomprehensible writing style I have ever seen

When we look into the quantifications of basic molecules, the standard model may need to be restructured for the development of nano-scale materials to get into a revised periodic table. Since the energy is the basic potentiality of matters on viewing the duality of matters for its mass, the assumption of pyrophosphate bond in relevant to the formation of ATP may get modified when new nano-scale materials are assumed, on the basis of energy conservation principles.

On top-to-bottom approach, the quantifications of physical constructs are much difficult, since there is difficulty in the standardization of smallest construct to assemble with coherent super-constructs and so we may presume for a virtual standardization of smallest construct to proceed further on nano-scale material development. Another constrain is to assign guided molecular self-assembly to a remote target assembly as bio-robotics, since there is sequence of repeated procedures are needed to guide or to direct the remote target assembly.

Not a bad point. I doubt we have a full understanding of what can and cannot be done by self-assembly. Or what may be more or less efficiently using self-assembly.

I also doubt we have a full understanding of the degree to which biology is using self-assembly vs. directed assembly. In which case it may be hard to determine when one should use directed vs. what one should allow to self-assemble. To the best of my knowledge there are no good constraints on such systems (self-assembling vs. directed assembling) at this time. And "Nature" only serves as a point in the phase space. In fact there should be an optimal assembly space for each physical construct. There may be more optimal assembly points. It is a question of finding them using the available technology that begs the question.

We can consider the assembly and the replication are in the aggregate molecular level and also when there is chain of directed assemblies, that may of by the molecular environmental remote controlling.