In Michael Crichton's recent science-fiction thriller Prey, tiny self-replicating machines turn murderous and wreak havoc on a scientific experiment.
But Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science professors -- who are promoting the field themselves -- say such tales of nanotechnology run amok sensationalize the science.
And portrayals like this are a problem for the research community, they say.
Nanotechnology -- the study and application of small materials on scales of billionths of a meter -- has been a fast-growing area of research in a variety of sciences for nearly two decades.
But before nanotechnology can achieve its full potential, experts say they must work hard to educate the public on its realities.
The field is especially hot in biology and engineering, and Penn is jumping on the bandwagon.
Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt has said that he wants to make Penn a "destination school" for scholars in the field. He put improving Penn's nanotechnology clout on his strategic agenda in 2004.
Last fall, the school celebrated the creation of the Penn Center for Molecular Discovery and the Nano/Bio Interface Center -- two research hubs.
According to National Science Foundation spokesman Mitchell Waldrop, science-fiction portrayals of nanotechnology cause two major problems: They raise false expectations of what the science can eventually accomplish and they also can provoke unwarranted fears of scenarios such as microscopic robots taking over the world.
In reality, he said, scientists are nowhere near building robots like that -- nor are they trying to.
Instead, nanotechnology research focuses on much more practical applications, such as tiny beads that can search for substances in the blood, he said.
Researchers at Penn are working to combat nanotechnology misconceptions as well.
Engineering professor Dawn Bonnell, who is the director of Penn's Nano/Bio Interface Center, said that the Center fights myths by making clear definitions of nanotechnology.
Dispelling myths about the field, experts say, may stave off a backlash fueled by science fiction.
Pomona College physics professor David Tanenbaum -- who teaches a course called "Nanotechnology in Science and Fiction" -- attributed the prevalence of nanotechnology in science fiction to the field's exotic nature.
Science-fiction writer Greg Bear -- author of Queen of Angels and Moving Mars -- wrote in an e-mail interview that nanotechnology "can breed great stories."
As a result, science fiction writers and directors have been incorporating nanotechnology themes since the 1940s. Media inventions such as these are a problem because people learn much about science from fiction, he said.
And if popular culture believes that all nanotechnology will do is destroy mankind, he said, then it will be hard for science to move forward.
