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I know the suffering of asthma as well as anyone. I grew up with it and my daughter has it. Leaving home without my trusty inhaler was unthinkable. Now, the inhaler might go the way of the pocket protectors. As Dr. King once said: “Free at last!” Let’s talk about nanotechnology.

What Is Asthma?

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Asthma sufferers everywhere know what it is like leaving the house without some kind of help to breathe. An asthma attack can happen anywhere at anytime. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, it is a disease that hinders the bronchial tubes from performing their life sustaining function. It can lead to wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing and tightness of chest. The disease does this by inflaming the airways and restricting the flow of air.

There’s A New Sheriff In Town

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Something new called nanotechnology is leading us into the future. Nanobites are little ‘robots’ that you can only see through a microscope. They can be injected into your bloodstream and they will flow to the troubled area. In science fiction, they will be able to cure any disease or reprogram our genetic structure. Today, they are just emerging as scientific fact.

Bronchial Tubes

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These new nanoparticles will be injected into your body and they will travel to your bronchial tubes. They carry antigens that are noted for causing an allergic reactions in humans. Since humans are unique individuals, each injection of nanoparticles will need to be tailored to each individual. The antigens will be used as a form of immunotherapy to relieve the symptoms. It will be sort of a preemptive strike against asthma.

The Future

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Cancer could go the way of the Dodo or at least plaid pants at a rock concert. By sending in these little programmed machines into your body, they can be programmed to search and destroy cancer cells without harming the healthy cells. No more chemotherapy or radiation treatments. You will also say goodbye to nausea, hair loss and fatigue. The patient will only feel getting healthier. Finally, a cure for the cure.

Too Good To Be True?

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What could be better? A future where everyone can be healthy and happy? Science fiction not only gives us a hope for the future but it can also warn us about it as well. They say there is a very small difference between a Utopia and a Dystopia. That difference is whether you are at the top or the bottom. While nanotechnology can help to mend a broken heart in the future, can it also keep an eye on you? Will the government add some nanotech porkbarrel to add a GPS to your next injection? It will know where you are at anytime. Will it try to control you by raising or lowering your hormones? Get out of line and your nanobites can turn on the inner faucet of dopamine to calm you down.

Science fiction warns us of extremes. Tomorrow will neither be a Utopia or Dystopia. We will be somewhere in the middle. In other words, a little bit of both. We will bounce back and forth between extremes like a stock market. People are already drawing parallels between nano-injections and your early childhood immunizations. Odds are that this will be by far a boon to our health and will give us longer lives and quality. Any downside will be minimal. Only James Bond villains will try to change the world. But, with just one injection… one calculated nanochange… could we all wake up tomorrow with the same Donald Trump hair style?

What’s your biggest hope?   Fear?

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