Chemists create bipedal, autonomous DNA walker (4/6/2009)
Chemists at New York University and Harvard University have created a bipedal, autonomous DNA "walker" that can mimic a cell's transportation system. The device, which marks a step toward more complex synthetic molecular motor systems, is described in the most recent issue of the journal Science. For a video demonstration of the walker, go to
http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/videos/qtime/biped_movie.mov.
Two fundamental components of life's building blocks are DNA, which encodes instructions for making proteins, and motor proteins, such as kinesin, which are part of a cell's transportation system. In nature, single strands of DNA-each containing four molecules, or bases, attached to backbone-self-assemble to form a double helix when their bases match up. Kinesin is a molecular motor that carries various cargoes from one place in the cell to another. Scientists have sought to re-create this capability by building DNA walkers.
Earlier versions of walkers, which move along a track of DNA, did not function autonomously, thereby requiring intervention at each step. A challenge these previous devices faced was coordinating the movement of the walker's legs so they could move in a synchronized fashion without falling off the track.
To create a walker that could move on its own, the NYU and Harvard researchers employed two DNA "fuel strands" (purple and green in the above video). These fuel strands push the walker (blue) along a track of DNA, thereby allowing the walker and the fuel strands to function as a catalytic unit.
The forward progress of the system is driven by the fact that more base pairs are formed every step-a process that creates the energy necessary for movement. As the walker moves along the DNA track, it forms base pairs. Simultaneously, the fuel strands move the walker along by binding to the track and then releasing the walker's legs, thereby allowing the walker to take "steps".
The track's length is 49 nanometers-if the track was one meter long, an actual meter, enlarged proportionally, would be the approximate diameter of the earth.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the New York University
Post Comments:
| 
Subscribe
World's first handheld sound camera ready for market
Researchers discover dynamic behavior of progenitor cells in brain
Untangling the tree of life
Study shows warming in central China greater than most climate models indicated
We almost always buy in the same shops
40% Chance that the Major-severe Geomagnetic storm will be peaking in 24 hours (posted 5pm MST)
Finding Nematostella: An ancient sea creature
The Elephant's Tomb in Carmona may have been a temple to the God Mithras
A giant leap to commercialization of polymer solar cell
Landsat thermal sensor lights up from volcano's heat
Cicadas get a jump on cleaning
Deep, permeable soils buffer impacts of crop fertilizer on Amazon streams, study finds
Columbia engineers manipulate a buckyball by inserting a single water molecule
More than a good eye: Carnegie Mellon robot uses arms, location and more to discover objects
More effective, cheaper concrete manufactured with ash from olive residue biomass
Seahorse's armor gives engineers insight into robotics designs
New quantitative analysis for open source software projects
Is antimatter anti-gravity?
High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely breached, says study
Bold move forward in molecular analyses
Computer scientists develop video game that teaches how to program in Java
Do palm trees hold the key to immortality?
Researchers show how we can do math problems unconsciously
Keep moving and have fun
New strategy for fingerprint visualization developed at Hebrew University
Children's bicycle helmets shown to be effective in impact and crush tests
How Usain Bolt can run faster -- effortlessly
Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA
What is the role of double-stranded RNA in antiviral host defense systems?
Mining the botulinum genome
Sacred lotus genome sequence enlightens scientists
Scientists create novel approach to find RNAs involved in long-term memory storage
Research uncovers molecular role of gene linked to blood vessel formation