Google X is a low profile, half secret facility run by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) that deals with the technological aspects of the company. The Google X lab is famous for pushing the boundary and trying new things. The credit of Google Glass, self-driving car, internet beam balloons etc all goes to Google X and now it has come up with yet another innovative idea that if successful might change the medical world.
Google is said to be working on magnetic pills that will not only detect cancer cells in human body, but will destroy them as well. The project was announced on Tuesday and is being looked at as a hope to improve the quality of life for people around the globe.
Google X research lab’s head of life science Andrew Conrad explained that they are trying to change the medicine from reactive to proactive. That means that these pills will be able to detect the cancerous cells ahead of time and thus prevent cancer altogether. He said that they are aiming at building nanoparticles that will have the ability to detect any disease. Conrad told the audience at a Wall Street Journal conference that Nanoparticles are the union of biology and engineering, which will help in observing the human body at a cellular and molecular level. He also said that the team working on the project includes a cancer specialist along with other doctors as well as electrical and mechanical engineers, an astrophysicist is also there to guide them on how to track the particles that are present in the body.
The idea is to give the patient a pill to swallow. The pill will have the iron-oxide nanoparticles, which have the ability to magnetically attach themselves to the person’s body cells and proteins. Once attached the nanoparticles will report back to a wearable device that the patient will be wearing and that device will then report health related information. The nanoparticles can detect many things, but their main target is to detect cancerous cells in the body. Once detected the nanoparticles will bring the sick cells to the wearable device where they will be treated. Detection of cancerous cells before they are active would mean detection of cancer at a very early stage when treatment is likely to be effective and successful.
Google’s combination of technology with health is something that can be very positive for the future of medical sciences. However, some investors who are getting agitated by the amount of money being spend on these farfetched projects ridicule them as being nothing more than being extravagant. This puts even more pressure on the company to produce successful results and produce them fast.
However Larry Page, the CEO of Google is very optimistic about these projects and thinks that they could be the road to a more innovative future and can bring money-making opportunities to Google.
Although it could take years if not decades for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to finish its research on the nanoparticles project, but if it becomes successful it could benefit mankind immensely.