# Respirocyte

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{{Short description|Hypothetical artificial red blood cells}}
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'''Respirocytes''' are hypothetical, microscopic, [artificial](/source/Artificial_cell) [red blood cell](/source/red_blood_cell)s that are intended to emulate the function of their organic counterparts, so as to supplement or replace the function of much of the human body's normal [respiratory system](/source/respiratory_system). Respirocytes were proposed by [Robert A. Freitas Jr](/source/Robert_A._Freitas_Jr) in his 1998 paper "A Mechanical Artificial Red Blood Cell: Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology".<ref name=ref2>{{cite journal|author=Robert A. Freitas Jr.|title=Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology: A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell|journal=Artificial Cells, Blood Substitutes, and Immobil. Biotech.|number=26|year=1998|pages=411–430}}</ref>

Respirocytes are an example of [molecular nanotechnology](/source/molecular_nanotechnology), a field of technology still in the very earliest, purely hypothetical phase of development. Current technology is not sufficient to build a respirocyte due to considerations of power, atomic-scale manipulation, immune reaction or [toxicity](/source/toxicity), [computation](/source/computation) and [communication](/source/communication).

== Structure of a respirocyte ==

Freitas proposed a spherical robot made up of 18 billion atoms arranged as a tiny [pressure tank](/source/pressure_tank), which would be filled up with [oxygen](/source/oxygen) and [carbon dioxide](/source/carbon_dioxide).<ref name =REF1>{{cite web|title=RESPIROCYTES – IMPROVING UPON NATURE'S DESIGN: BREATHE EASY WITH RESPIROCYTES|url=http://www.thenanoage.com/respirocytes.htm}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2017}} <ref name =REF4>{{cite journal|title=Nanotechnology – The New Frontier of Medicine|year=2006|pmc=4922842|last1=Datta|first1=R.|last2=Jaitawat|first2=S.|journal=Medical Journal, Armed Forces India|volume=62|issue=3|pages=263–268|doi=10.1016/S0377-1237(06)80016-X|pmid=27365690}}</ref>
==Uses==
In Freitas' proposal, each respirocyte could store and transport 236 times more oxygen than a natural red blood cell, and could release it in a more controlled manner.<ref name =REF1/>

Freitas has also proposed "[microbivore](/source/microbivore)" robots that would attack [pathogens](/source/pathogens) in the manner of [white blood cells](/source/white_blood_cells).<ref>{{cite book | last = Kurzweil | first = Ray | author-link = Ray Kurzweil | title = The Singularity Is Near | pages = 254 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [Artificial cell](/source/Artificial_cell)
* [Biotechnology](/source/Biotechnology)
* [Blood substitute](/source/Blood_substitute)
* [Oxycyte](/source/Oxycyte)
* [Synthetic biology](/source/Synthetic_biology)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html Respirocytes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709021600/http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html |date=2011-07-09 }} at [http://foresight.org foresight.org]

Category:Synthetic biology
Category:Blood cells
Category:Hypothetical technology
Category:Blood substitutes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Respirocyte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirocyte) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirocyte?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.