Founded in 2002 with a $50 million grant from the federal government, the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is dedicated to a single, powerful mission: To develop and exploit nanotechnology to improve the survival rate of wounded soldiers. Nanotechnology utilizes the advantages of miniaturization, which offers the dual benefits of making the essential tools a soldier must carry on his or her shoulders a negligible burden, yet providing greater accessibility in emergencies; and expanding processing power. For soldiers in war, miniaturization is a necessity, but it takes very little to imagine how, in the luxury of peacetime, miniaturization can enhance ease, efficiency and medical security in everyday settings. For instance, the Institute's overarching project is the development of a nanotechnology-based battle suit. The suit would be extremely lightweight, thin and comfortable, but would be capable of containing communications and health-monitoring circuitry, easing injury, detecting and reacting to chemical and biological agents, and even resisting bullets. Though few of us face such dangers, who wouldn't benefit from "smart clothing" that allows us to speak with others without removing a device from our pocket, dials 911 before we even realize we're having a heart attack or stroke, and uploads our entire medical history when the ambulance arrives, in case we're unable to speak?

To date, none of the Institute's inventions has been deployed to the battlefield, but expect this research to produce ancillary innovations in a variety of areas key to health care and human services. Among the Institute's most promising (and thoroughly developed) projects is the "blood lab on a chip," a fully-portable miniaturized device that can segregate a single drop of bodily fluid, sluice it through numerous divisions 10 microns wide, then pump the resulting samples across different electronic pathways to be tested for the presence of specific molecules, all in the form of a handheld gauge. Innovations like this may keep combat troops alive today, and do the same for whole populations in underdeveloped parts of the world tomorrow.


To date, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken the lives of over 5280 American soldiers and left at least 32,000 wounded. Though the medical profession needs no further motivation than that knowledge, it can still be heartened to consider that in serving those serving our country, we'll continue to help those most in need in their critical hour, for generations to come.


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