Beauty in molecular robotics research a major breakthrough for

United States researchers in molecular Robotics Research gained major breakthrough.

Them on a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) made of a molecular robot programming, have its DNA along a track, moving, backward, stop. The technology may allow scientists ultimately produce molecular level, like transformers-like robots can be assembled to complete different tasks. Related research published in the May 13, published in the journal nature.

Columbia University of Milan · stoic Yang norvik several years ago developed molecular robots "Spider-man" (spider), scientists have proven it to random walk in a two-dimensional surface.

And now, stoic Yang norvik leadership team through programming, allowing it to track down a specific campaign. This progress is the powerful: once been programmed, the robot can automatically complete tasks without human intervention.

Researchers said the benefits of molecular robots can be comparable with conventional robot: theoretically, you can programmatically enable molecular robotic perception of environment (for example, to see if a cell disease symptoms), decision (decision whether the cell is the cell, the need and etc) as well as the implementation of the action (send a kill cancer drugs).

In addition, scientists can also be programmed so that multiple 3 molecular robot assembled into a complex molecule products.

Despite having such a broad application prospects, however, a molecular robots face practical problems is: how to molecular programming to enable them to complete complex tasks?

Researchers said that the ordinary robot built a lot of information associated with the command, but a single molecular information storage capacity is limited, so that they consider the elements of the surrounding environment is filled with information.

They use DNA origami technique invents a programming environment, new studies to "origami" is a cuboid, thick, about 2 NM, the side length of approximately 10 nanometers.

DNA origami operation in recent years a new DNA self-assembly method, by United States California Institute of technology Professor and senior researcher Paul · brosman developed, is DNA nano-technology and DNA self-Assembly of a significant progress in the field.

Unlike traditional DNA self-assembly technologies, DNA origami operation by a single strand of DNA (usually a genomic DNA) and a series of short DN * ** paragraph bases complement each other, to construct can be controlled from highly complex Nano patterns or structure.

By some single-stranded DNA molecules (oligonucleotides) concatenated with the researchers in DNA origami on the laying of a regiment "bread crumbs" orbits molecules, in which molecular "bread crumbs" under the "command", molecular robots "Spider-man" along the tracks made forward, walking, turn left, turn right into or halt action.

The researchers explained that "Spider-man" is a four-foot molecular robots, one of the three legs by single-stranded DNA, DNA can attach it and cut a specific sequence of DNA.

"Spider-man" also assembled a "start fragment", that is, it's the fourth leg, it will "Spiderman" restrictions in initial position, the initial location for DNA origami track a specific oligonucleotide. When the "Spider-man" was a trigger segment triggered, starting from the initial position, the attachment and then cut by the molecular orbital on other fragment, it is able to walk along the track. Finally, when the "Spider-man," a mission it to attach looks but cannot cut out of DNA, it is automatically stopped. In short, the "Spider-man" is a perceptual environment.

Although scientists have developed before a lot of other DNA "Cruiser", however, these molecules have never taken the robot 3 step, "Spiderman" can walk about 100 nanometers, about 50 steps.

Researchers said the molecular robots, to walk so far this is not surprising, because before that "Spider-man" to hundreds of step, the significance of the study is that we are not only able to guarantee that "Spider-man" take so many steps and also to be able to boot it automatically along a specific direction.

In fact, the use of atomic force microscope and single molecule fluorescence microscope, researchers will be able to directly observe the "Spider-man" in origami on the belly of the process, this also shows that they are able to boot the "Spiderman" towards the four directions.

Stoic Yang norvik said that in the current system, the "Spiderman" only and the surrounding environment "dialogue", they want next to increase the second "Spider-man", in this way, both molecular robots can work together to complete the direct communication, a task.

Researchers also said that this progress will also be the foundation of self-assembled robot, complex self-assembly robot is the combination of many simple parts, they are able to self organized into any shape to complete complex tasks, or crashed self-healing.

Such molecules robot future in medicine will accomplish, such as for the "Spider-man" to bring drugs into the human body, according to the physical environment for the release of different dose and type of drug.

Stoic Yang norvik, said that despite the application of this technology is very tempting prospect, but may also require decades of efforts can be achieved, however, research has now embarked on the right track, and molecular aspects of nano-robots will become the future trend of development.