Organic Robot Created

[CivCube]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3690115.stm

Tiny robot walker made from DNA

The tiny robots are made from the building blocks of life
Scientists have created a microscopic walking robot using only the building blocks of life: DNA.
The tiny walker is only 10 nanometres long and has been described as a major step forward in nanotechnology.

A New York University team created the robot using DNA legs that move along a footpath, which is also based on DNA.

The legs move by detaching themselves from the footpath, moving along it and then reattaching themselves, New Scientist reports.

DNA is an ideal material to build the robot from, because DNA chains easily pair up.

By re-ordering the sequence of base pairs that make up the DNA strand, the scientists were able to control where each strand attached.

"What we've done is to build a sidewalk to accommodate one step and we've demonstrated quantitatively that [the robot] can take a second step," Professor Nadrian Seeman of New York University told BBC News Online.

Leg work

Each leg of the biped is made from two strands of DNA paired up as a double helix. These legs are connected by flexible "linker" strands of DNA.

Each leg of the biped has a portion at its end which is single-stranded. The scientists refer to this as a foot, and it is available to pair up with a complementary DNA strand.

Likewise, each domain in the track has a single stranded region that can pair with a complementary strand. The single strands on the foot and footpath are designed so that they should not generally pair up.

The researchers have to add a strand, called a set strand, that is complementary to both to make the foot attach to the foothold.

To make the walker take a step, the researchers then add another DNA strand called an unset strand to release the foot.

After this, the released foot grabs another set strand and the process can be repeated.

The research has been published in the journal Nano Letters.

 

[h4ppy]

I beleive this was posted elsewhere.
edit-nope but something similar, this is admazing

 

[Civrules]

Amazing!

 

[silver 2039]

Awesome now we can build armies of mini DNA robots and conquer Mars!

 

[stormbind]

Stunning!!

One of the things about genetic engineering is that it only affects the next generation, but with this is may affect existing specimens.

The greatest thing ever to come from the USA!! As long as they don't make genetic diseases with it...

 

[Pirate]

Yeah, but what does it DO?

I have a friend going for a PhD at Georgia Tech that tells me about all the nano-heads there. Everyone's thesis is to build the tiniest thing ever, but these things never do anything except be small.

Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed by the scale of these things, but every article I read like this never mentions even one suggestion of what can possibly be done with such a device.

 

[LesCanadiens]

And Skynet will soon go online.....fear.

 

[Amenhotep7]

Only one smiley is appropriate for this thread:

 

[stratego]

Originally posted by Pirate
Yeah, but what does it DO?

I have a friend going for a PhD at Georgia Tech that tells me about all the nano-heads there. Everyone's thesis is to build the tiniest thing ever, but these things never do anything except be small.

Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed by the scale of these things, but every article I read like this never mentions even one suggestion of what can possibly be done with such a device.

We can develop things from it that we never thought of before. What was electricity good for when it was discovered?

 

[Duddha]

Big deal, I'm an organic robot and nobody seems to care.

 

[toh6wy]

Originally posted by LesCanadiens
And Skynet will soon go online.....fear.

DNA robots will conquer the earth!

 

[puglover]

Originally posted by Pirate
Yeah, but what does it DO?

I have a friend going for a PhD at Georgia Tech that tells me about all the nano-heads there. Everyone's thesis is to build the tiniest thing ever, but these things never do anything except be small.

Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed by the scale of these things, but every article I read like this never mentions even one suggestion of what can possibly be done with such a device.

As part of a science fair, I wrote a report on the future of nanotechnology. I learned that nanomachines could be used for medical purposes to fix unoperable parts of the body, or kill microscopic viruses among other things.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

My parents set out to build an organic robot, and they ended up with the half-finished failure of a robot that is me

 

[Civrules]

Now, I know that most of you are sarcastic (I hope) about fearing this technology, but if I show you guys the same thread after 50 years, you'll all laugh.
Same thing as people felt about future technologies 40-50 years ago...