Nanotechnology, biotechnology, electronics and brain research are converging into a new field of science, dubbed by some "NBIC", that may be vital to U.S. national security and economic clout.
The author introduces "Dickerson's formula", the biological equivalent of Moore's law, that predicts an accelerating pace of discovery in the burgeoning field of protein structure determination.
The author examines the growing convergence between the fields of information technology, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology.
Biotechnology researchers met in San Francisco to discuss the implications of the biotechnology revolution over the next 20 years. They estimate that the biotechnology industry is where the internet was five years ago and that the same laws that led to the explosive growth of the internet, Moore's Law and Metcalfe's Law, will also accelerate the speed of progress in the biotech industry.