Making Factories with DNA

From an article yesterday at MSNBC:

As if the blueprint for life wasn't busy enough, nanotech researchers are putting DNA to work in tiny mechanical devices and as templates for electronic circuits.

Recent DNA constructions include microscopic patterns, tiny gears and a molecular assembly line. Although still mostly at the demonstration level, DNA nanotech is a rapidly growing field.

The first person to see DNA's potential beyond biology was Naiman Seeman, a chemist at New York University. More than twenty years ago, he began imagining how the genetic information in DNA might be engineered to perform useful tasks.

"DNA structures are programmable by sequence, and so are their intermolecular interactions," Seeman says. "That makes them unique."

Whereas nature alone dictates how most molecules interact, DNA comes with a built-in code that researchers can re-formulate to control which DNA molecules bond with each other. The goal of this DNA tinkering is microscopic factories that can produce made-to-order molecules, as well as electronic components 10 times smaller than current limits.

"Nanofabrication is where we are going," Seeman told LiveScience. "It will happen soon."

...recently, Seeman and colleagues have put DNA robots to work by incorporating them into a self-assembling array. The composite device grabs various molecular chains, or "polymers," from a solution and fuses them together. By controlling the position of the nano-bots, the researchers can specify the arrangement of the finished polymer.

Seeman hopes this tiny assembly line can be expanded into nano-factories that would synthesize whole suites of polymers in parallel. The major challenge now is going from 2D arrays to 3D structures. The extra dimension would allow the fabrication of more elaborate molecules, as well as denser electronic circuits.

Although this is not yet close to the nanofactory technology described on CRN's website and depicted in this popular computer animation, it is remarkable work. In fact, it can be said that Seeman's group already is doing first-stage molecular manufacturing, as we have defined it.

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