But scientists say they one day be able to duplicate the feat inside the human body....

Researchers worry about the more prosaic environmental byproducts of nanotech, such as the potential health effects of nanoscale particlescarbon nanotubes, for instance, which can behave like asbestos fibers when inhaled..

Researchers report in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part that they successfully grew cartilage around carbon nanotubes in their laband are optimistic that one day they will be able to insert microscopic carbon nanotubes into injured jointssuch as kneesencouraging new, stronger cartilage cells to grow in place

Nanotechnology is not without controversy, however, as Billy Joy, Microsystems cofounder, once famously warned us of the now largely debunked threat of gray goo, or selfreplicating nanobots that some feared would disassemble everything on Earth.

Researchers report in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part that they successfully grew cartilage around carbon nanotubes in their laband are optimistic that one day they will be able to repair injured and wornout cartilage with the help of nanotubes. Researchers worry about the more prosaic environmental byproducts of nanotech, such as the potential health effects of nanoscale particlescarbon nanotubes, for instance, which can behave like asbestos fibers when inhaled..

Researchers report in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part that they successfully grew cartilage around carbon nanotubes in their laband are optimistic that one day they will be able to repair injured and wornout cartilage with the help of nanotubes.