DNA Robots Manufactured in a short time

Scientists believe that tiny DNA-based Robots and other nanodevices will be used to deliver medicine inside our bodies, detect the presence of deadly pathogens, and help manufacture increasingly smaller electronics. This was published in the journal Nature Materials. Researchers from Ohio State University which is led by former engineering doctoral student Chao-Min Huang unveiled new software they call MagicDNA.

Researchers developed a new tool that can design complex DNA based Robots and nanodevices than were ever possible before in a fraction of the time. This software helps to design ways to take tiny strands of DNA and combine them into complex structures with parts like rotors and hinges that can move and complete a variety of tasks, including drug delivery.

Carlos Castro, co-author of the study and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State said that Researchers are working for this by doing this for several years with slower tools with tedious manual steps. These nanodevices that may have taken us several days to design before now take a few minutes.

Hai-Jun Su, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State and co-author of the study said that they could build devices with up to about six individual components and connect them with joints and hinges and try to make them execute complex motions. The software has a variety of advantages that will help scientists design better, more helpful nanodevices and the researchers hope to reach the time before they are in everyday use.One advantage is that it allows researchers to carry out the entire design truly in 3-D. Earlier design tools only allowed creation in 2-D, forcing researchers to map their creations into 3-D. That meant designers couldn’t make their devices too complex. The software also allows designers to build DNA structures “bottom-up” or “top-down.”

In “bottom-up” design, researchers take single strands of DNA and decide how to organize them into the pattern they want, which allows fine control over local device structure and properties. Using the top-down approach they decide how their device needs to be shaped geometrically and then automate how the DNA strands are put together.