The base pairs found in DNA are key to its ability to store protein-coding information, but they also give the molecule useful structural properties. Getting two complementary strands of DNA to zip up into a double helix can serve as the basis of intricate physical mechanisms that can push and pull molecular-scale devices.
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanoscale "muscles" that work on this principle. By carefully incorporating strands of custom DNA into different layers of flexible films, they can force those films to bend, curl and even flip over by introducing the right DNA cue. They could also reverse these changes by way of different DNA cues.
One day, the flexing of these muscles could be used in diagnostic devices, capable of signaling changes in gene expression from within cells.
(Score: 2) by dlb on Saturday November 19 2016, @06:04AM
Making new chemicals isn't easy, and that's probably part of the reason why pharmaceuticals spend years and millions (billions?) bringing a new drug to market. But tiny robotics could maybe make chemicals that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to produce with a chemical reaction, potentially streamline the process.