Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D., FLF
Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D., FLF is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing in Palo Alto, California, and the winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Theory in nanotechnology, with over 40 years of pioneering work in medical nanorobotics, diamond mechanosynthesis, and molecular manufacturing.
He is the author of Nanomedicine, the first book-length technical discussion of the medical applications of nanotechnology and medical nanorobotics, and most recently authored Cryostasis Revival: The Recovery of Cryonics Patients through Nanomedicine, a comprehensive 700-page analysis of using medical nanorobots to revive cryopreserved patients. Read Nanomedicine Book Site and Cryostasis Revival.
Rob published the first detailed technical design study of a medical nanorobot ever published in a peer-reviewed mainstream biomedical journal in 1996, describing the Respirocyte, an artificial mechanical red blood cell. He has since developed theoretical designs for numerous medical nanorobots, including the Clottocyte (2000), an artificial mechanical platelet that can achieve hemostasis in as little as 1 second — 100 to 1,000 times faster than natural platelets and 10,000 times more effective by volume. His other designs include the Microbivore (2005), an artificial white blood cell, the Pharmacyte (2006), a drug delivery vehicle, the Chromallocyte (2007), a cell repair nanorobot, and, with Christopher J. Phoenix, the Vasculoid (2002), an artificial vascular system comprised of 500 trillion nanorobots.
In 2010, he was awarded the first patent ever issued on diamond mechanosynthesis (U.S. Patent No. 7,687,146), which he developed while serving as a Research Scientist at Zyvex Corporation, the world’s first molecular nanotechnology company, from 2000 to 2004. Read Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations.
In 2006, Rob cofounded the Nanofactory Collaboration with Ralph Merkle, an international research program aimed at developing the first working diamondoid nanofactory for atomically precise manufacturing. Their collaboration produced the landmark “Minimal Toolset” paper in 2008, which provided the first theoretical quantitative systems-level study of a complete suite of reaction sequences for fabricating atomically precise objects using scanning-probe-based ultrahigh-vacuum diamond mechanosynthesis.
This groundbreaking work contributed to Rob receiving the 2009 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology for Theory from the Foresight Institute. He had previously won the 2007 Foresight Prize in Communication and the 2006 Guardian Award from the Lifeboat Foundation. Artist Gina Miller has created a 3-minute animation illustrating his proposed programmable dermal display, essentially a video-touchscreen nano-tattoo that reports real-time medical information to the user.
Rob earned his Bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Psychology from Harvey Mudd College in 1974, where he developed his interdisciplinary approach to scientific research. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1978, bringing a unique legal perspective to the field of nanotechnology policy and ethics.
Between 1977 and 1978, he developed the concept of “sentience quotient” (SQ) as a means to describe the information processing rate in living organisms or computers, first publishing it in his paper “Xenopsychology” in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact magazine in April 1984. This concept defined the computational density of sentient matter across a spectrum spanning 120 orders of magnitude.
His early career included coediting with William Gilbreath the 1980 NASA feasibility analysis, Advanced Automation for Space Missions, which presented the first detailed engineering study of self-replicating space factories and introduced concepts such as qualitative and quantitative closure in self-replicating machine systems design.
Throughout his prolific career, Rob has authored the multi-volume Nanomedicine series, with Volume I: Basic Capabilities published in 1999 and Volume IIA: Biocompatibility in 2003 by Landes Bioscience, while continuing work on Volumes IIB and III. In 2004, he coauthored Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines with Ralph Merkle, the first comprehensive survey of the field of physical and hypothetical self-replicating machines.
His recent work includes “The Whiskey Machine: Nanofactory-Based Replication of Fine Spirits and Other Alcohol-Based Beverages” (2016), the first technical description of a diamondoid nanofactory for producing a food product, as well as collaborative research on mechanical computing systems that could be 100 billion times more energy-efficient than today’s supercomputers. Read Progress in Nanomedicine and Medical Nanorobotics.
Rob serves on the Alcor Scientific Advisory Board and is a Founding Member of numerous editorial boards, including the Journal of Nanomaterials & Molecular Nanotechnology, International Journal of Nanomedicine, and Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine. He has written over 150 technical papers, book chapters, and popular articles on scientific, engineering, and legal topics, with his work cited over 8,296 times according to Google Scholar. His paper Nanodentistry (2000) was the first cover story on medical nanorobotics ever published in a mainstream medical journal, the Journal of the American Dental Association.
Beyond nanotechnology, his interests include quantitative cliodynamics (psychohistory), econometrics, and financial forecasting, as well as structures and models of universal ethical systems. His early work on extraterrestrial intelligence is documented in his comprehensive book Xenology, which collected critical comments from notable figures such as Edward O. Wilson, Frank Drake, and Carl Sagan. Rob was the peer expert reader in the fields of nanotechnology and cosmology for the 2005 Ray Kurzweil book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, and is a Fellow of the Lifeboat Foundation.
He is Curator for Nanomedicine Art Gallery (Foresight Institute), and Fellow of the World Technology Network. Read his interview with Sander Olson at Nanotechnology Business.
Read Mechanical Computing Systems Using Only Links and Rotary Joints and watch The Singularity is Near.
Born in Camden, Maine, in 1952, Rob grew up with a father who worked in agriculture and a mother who was a homemaker. He married Nancy, his childhood sweetheart, in 1974, and continues his research from California while maintaining his position as one of the world’s foremost authorities on molecular nanotechnology and its medical applications.
His vision for nanomedicine extends beyond treating disease to dramatically extending human lifespan and expanding the possibilities of the human form, with the ultimate goal of using molecular nanotechnology to achieve “an unbounded healthspan.”
Read his free online publications on probe-SETI.
Visit his Homepage, LinkedIn profile, ResearchGate profile, and Wikipedia page. Follow him on Google Scholar.