Renee Juhans

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1712)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-15

To treat symptoms of the common cold, most people take a gel
capsule containing hundreds of granular pieces of medicine as a
remedy for coughing, sneezing and a runny nose. Now, imagine
ingesting a capsule of similar size, containing microscopic
sensors to detect, diagnose and treat disease inside the human
body.

It sounds like science fiction. However, NASA, in
collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is working
to turn this vision into “science fact.” To mark the unique
partnership, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin and National Cancer
Institute (NCI) Director Dr. Richard Klausner will sign a
Memorandum of Understanding to develop new biomedical technologies
that can detect, diagnose and treat disease here on Earth and in
space. The development of such technologies will improve life on
Earth and one day revolutionize medicine and space travel.

The signing will begin at 1 p.m. EDT on April 13, in Room SD-
138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill,
Washington, DC. Goldin and Klausner will discuss their visions of
bio-molecular technologies and present video concepts of such
future technology.

Media representatives are invited to attend the signing and
should contact Renee Juhans at (202) 358-1712, by COB April 11, to
confirm attendance.

The joint collaboration comes as NASA and NCI each move
forward with historic initiatives requiring major advances in
available technology. NCI is attempting to define cancer for the
first time based on the unique molecular characteristics of
tumors. NASA is seeking to develop a new form of patient care —
“microscopic explorers” — that would travel through the human
body looking for disease. This technology will allow NASA to
monitor astronaut health and treat conditions in space, where
medical test capabilities and communication with Earth will be
limited.

Additional information on NASA and NCI technology programs
can be found on the Internet at:

http://search.nci.nih.gov/search.nci.nih.gov/s97is.vts

http://www.sverdrup.com/nasa/sensors.html

-end-