13 May 2010
Assembly in the nanoworld
Many new functional materials and devices could be made if it were possible to rationally combine different nanometre-scale particles into larger structures. An assembly line operating on the nanometre-scale would be an ideal means for constructing a wide range of complex target structures, and has now been demonstrated in proof-of-principle experiments. It combines three known DNA-based modules — a DNA origami tile as framework and track for the assembly process, a cassette providing cargo delivery from three programmable DNA machines, and a three-'handed', four-'footed' DNA walker that generates the target product by moving along the track and collecting cargo as directed by the program. The assembly line can be programmed to join three different types of gold nanoparticle to form eight possible target products.
NEWS AND VIEWS:Nanotechnology: Molecular robots on the move
Robots have to store lots of information in order to coordinate their actions, but how can this be done for nanometre-scale robots? One answer is to program data into the robots' environment instead.
Lloyd M. Smith
doi:10.1038/465167a
LETTER: A proximity-based programmable DNA nanoscale assembly line
Hongzhou Gu, Jie Chao, Shou-Jun Xiao & Nadrian C. Seeman
doi:10.1038/nature09026
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