This tiny particle could roam your body to find tumors

Using engineering tools to address medical problems is an example of convergence research: the integration of life, physical and engineering science to solve problems in human health. This idea has it origins in the 20th century, as described by Lewis Thomas, and has recently been formalized by a group of American researchers.

Lewis Thomas was an American physician and essayist, in the vein of Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawende. He was a self-described 'medicine watcher.' My favorite of his books is not his most well-known or most lauded: The Youngest Science. It describes the evolution of medicine from an art to a sophisticated science over the course of the 20th century, and the power and importance of converging basic research with medical practice.

This report argues that truly major advances in the fight against cancer, dementia and diseases of aging, still rampant infectious disease, and a host of other pressing health challenges will only come from a novel research strategy that integrates biomedical knowledge with advanced engineering skills and expertise from physical, computational, and mathematical sciences, an approach known as Convergence.

Learn more about nanotechnology.

Learn more about US efforts in nanotechnology and cancer.

Learn more about individuals conducting convergence research.