DNA Robots Can Deliver Molecular Packages

Miniature robots with arms and legs made of DNA can sort and deliver molecular cargo, a new study finds. Such DNA robots could be used to shuffle nanoparticles around on circuits, assemble therapeutic compounds, separate molecular components in trash for recycling, or deliver medicines where they need to go in the body, researchers from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena say. "Just like electromechanical robots have been sent to places that are perhaps too far for humans to go to--for example, on another planet--if we truly master the ways of engineering molecular machines, we would be able to build molecular robots and send them to places that are perhaps too small for humans to go to--for example, inside the bloodstream," says study senior author Lulu Qian, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Caltech. The new robots are made from three basic modules that are each brief snippets of DNA. One module is a "leg" with two "feet" for walking; another is an "arm" with a "hand" for grabbing onto cargo; and the last can recognize specific delivery points and make the hand release its cargo at those spots.