The other advantage is that in conventional manufacturing processes, it takes a long time for a factory to produce an amount of product equal to its own weight. With molecular machines, the time required would be something more like a minute. K. Eric Drexler advantageamountconventional share on social
The really big difference is that what you make with a molecular machine can be completely precise, down to the tiniest degree of detail that can exist in the world. K. Eric Drexler bigcompletelydegree Change image and share on social
I had been impressed by the fact that biological systems were based on molecular machines and that we were learning to design and build these sorts of things. K. Eric Drexler basebiologicalbuild Change image and share on social
After realizing that we would eventually be able to build molecular machines that could arrange atoms to form virtually any pattern that we wanted, I saw that an awful lot of consequences followed from that. K. Eric Drexler arrangeatomawful share on social
Any powerful technology can be abused. K. Eric Drexler abusepowerfultechnology Change image and share on social
If you take all the factories in the world today, they could make all the parts necessary to build more factories like themselves. So, in a sense, we have a self-replicating industrial system today, but it would take a tremendous effort to copy what we already have. K. Eric Drexler buildcopyeffort share on social
On the molecular scale, you find it's reasonable to have a machine that does a million steps per second, a mechanical system that works at computer speeds. K. Eric Drexler computerfindmachine Change image and share on social
But while doing that I'd been following a variety of fields in science and technology, including the work in molecular biology, genetic engineering, and so forth. K. Eric Drexler biologyengineerfield Change image and share on social
Today we have big, crude instruments guided by intelligent surgeons, and we have little, stupid molecules of drugs that get dumped into the body, diffuse around and interfere with things as best they can. At present, medicine is unable to heal anything. K. Eric Drexler bigbodycrude share on social
I've encountered a lot of people who sound like critics but very few who have substantive criticisms. There is a lot of skepticism, but it seems to be more a matter of inertia than it is of people having some real reason for thinking something else. K. Eric Drexler criticcriticismencounter share on social
