Grey Goo & Other Scary Stories

In 1986, Dr. Eric Drexler published his book entitled Engines of Creation. The book included Drexler’s fears about the future of nanotechnology and vividly described the possibility of miniature devices called “nanobots,” capable of reproducing themselves and eventually taking over the planet. He labeled the resulting mess “grey goo” and the notice generated a great deal of fear (not to mention subject matter for a number of science fiction writers). Since then, researchers have learned enough about nano-manufacturing to declare the grey goo scenario “obsolete.” In a 2004 interview, Eric Drexler stated, “Updated molecular manufacturing concepts…make fears of accidental runaway replication - loosely based on my 1986 grey goo scenario - quite obsolete. Chris Phoenix [of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology] and I wrote the paper to counter the main threat posed by grey goo, which is that all the hype diverts attention from more important issues - research directions, development paths, and the role of advanced nanotechnologies in medicine, the environment, the economy, and in strategic competition.”

About the time that the “nanobots” story was cooling off, Michael Crichton’s science fiction thriller Prey was released in bookstores. In Crichton's book, miniature devices called “nano-robots” capable of reproducing themselves, eventually take over the world. Sound familiar? Although the story is about as possible as the story lines from Crichton’s other works like Jurassic Park, there are just enough scientific facts sprinkled into the story to make it sound somewhat plausible.

While there are still many unknowns surrounding nanotechnology, it’s important to separate the science fact from the science fiction. The majority of nanotechnology research focuses on issues other than nanobots, and specifically the design of new materials with properties that derive from their size and composites, and which can be used to make a positive impact in fields ranging from medicine to energy conversion and storage.

(Excerpt from Nanotechweb.org, 9 June 2004, Eric Drexler in an interview with Liz Kalaugher talks about his latest views on molecular manufacturing which were revealed in Nanotechnology [Chris Phoenix, Eric Drexler, Nanotechnology, 15, 869-872, 2004])