New DNA Robots Will Be Walking In Your Body!

For the first time, microscopic robots made from DNA molecules can walk, follow instructions and work together to assemble simple products on an atomic-scale assembly line, mimicking the machinery of living cells, two independent research teams announced Wednesday. These experimental devices, described in the journal Nature, are advances in DNA nanotechnology, in which bioengineers are using the molecules of the genetic code as nuts, bolts, girders and other building materials, on a scale measured in billionths of a meter. The effort, which combines synthetic chemistry, enzymology, structural nanotechnology and computer science, takes advantage of the unique physical properties of DNA molecules to assemble shapes according to predictable chemical rules.

The DNA work is a small part of a nearly $9 billion research-and-development effort world-wide, according to the private Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, which tracks environmental and health concerns arising from the new technology. So far, new nano-materials have been incorporated in hundreds of electronic, cosmetic, automotive and medical products made by 485 companies in 24 countries. But none involve these exotic man-made DNA objects. Both research groups tinkered with creations called DNA walkers—mobile DNA molecules, about 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, that have three or more legs made of a string of genetic enzymes. Each leg moves forward based on its chemical attraction to sequences of biochemicals laid down, like stepping stones, in front of it. These robots are so small that the researchers program their actions by encoding commands in the world around them. They follow chemical cues programmed into the ground on which they walk.