Draper Fisher Jurvetson has funded Arryx, a Chicago company that is commercializing a breakthrough in nanomaterial manipulation. With thousands of robot arms, the lasers can sort cells and proteins as well as manipulate the organelles and DNA inside a living cell. MEMS have already revolutionized medical and automotive sensors and photonic switches. But progress is constrained by the long turnaround time and cost of manufacturing semiconductors. Instead of a semiconductor clean-room fab that produces flat silicon, they have a single, inexpensive tool that rapidly creates 3D micromachines.
Designers can rapidly prototype and manufacture diverse devices, without the funny bunny suits.
Today's business-driven paths to nanotech lead to one of two strategies to cross the interface chasm. Not surprisingly, this is very similar to the path that has been followed in the semiconductor industry. On the other hand, biological manipulation presents myriad opportunities to effect great change in the near term. Molecular manipulation available to us today powerfully affects drug development and tissue and genetic engineering. The limiting factor is our understanding of these complex systems.