Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed an autonomous molecular machine comprising a single strand of DNA that can move around, collect specific molecules and sort them into predefined locations. Furthermore, this nanobot has been designed in such a way that requires no external source of energy or instruction. Credit: Demin Liu Lulu Qian, assistant professor of bioengineering, and her team at the California Institute of Technology have created a microscopic machine from DNA that is able to independently perform multiple tasks. Inspired by the behavior of ants, the team have developed the first ever DNA machine. Qian explained: Just like electromechanical robots are
Since the 1980s, the design and synthesis of molecular machines has been identified as a grand challenge for molecular engineering. Robots are an important type of molecular machine that automatically carry out complex nanomechanical tasks. DNA molecules are excellent materials for building molecular robots, because their geometric, thermodynamic, and kinetic properties are well understood and highly programmable. So far, the development of DNA robots has been limited to simple functions. Most DNA robots were designed to perform a single function: walking in a controlled direction. A few demonstrations included a second function combined with walking (for example, picking up nanoparticles or