Frank Boehm has written "An Investigation of Nucleic Acid/DNA-Based Manufacturing," a 26-page paper with 242 references. The paper is published on the Wise-Nano.org website, allowing readers to comment on the paper or even edit and update it.
The paper was written in response to one of CRN's Essential Studies: Study #10, "What will be required to develop nucleic acid manufacturing and products?"
Boehm's DNA paper describes many different kinds of tools in the DNA device toolbox, including:
2 DNA—Structure and Function
3 Survey of Nanodevices Based on DNA
4 A Toolbox of Nucleic Acid Devices
4.1 B-Z DNA Torsion Device
4.2 DNA Actuation Devices
4.3 DNA Tweezers
4.4 DNA Scissors
4.5 Deoxyribozymes
4.6 DNA—Three State Device
4.7 DNA Crossover Junction-Based Device
4.8 DNA G-Quartet Device
4.9 DNA Motors—Free-Running and Clocked
4.10 Precise Manipulation of Proteins using DNA
5 DNA Manufacturing Complex—Infrastructure Elements
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Replication of DNA Structural Elements—Octahedron
6 DNA Adhesion to, and Dissociation from Nano-Entities and Substrates
6.1 DNA Binding to Nanotubes
6.2 Thiolated DNA
6.3 DNA Adhesion to Dendrimers
6.4 DNA "Velcro"
6.5 DNA Adhesion to Surfaces
7 Potential Computing Requirements for a DNA Manufacturing Complex
7.1 Fractal Sierpinski Triangle Self-Assembly using DNA
8 DNA—Electronic Elements
8.1 DNA Nanowires
8.2 DNA Conductivity
Think about how many different kinds of molecular machines could be built with this toolbox... and think about the fact that we published the Essential Studies only one year ago, but already a DNA-building DNA machine has been designed and built by Seeman, and a whole new type of rigid polymer has been invented by Schafmeister.
Things are starting to move really fast in the lab -- and on the theoretical side as well, but that's a topic for another post. Papers like Frank's show just how advanced the technology is becoming. Thanks, Frank, for an important job very well done.
The research above is directly connected with CRN's Thirty Essential Studies. We also offer a Student Research Program, and of course, we maintain the Wise-Nano.org site for collaborative research. But even if your interests or plans don't fit neatly into one of these programs, we are still happy to support those who can do good quality research on molecular manufacturing topics. We encourage anyone who is interested to contact CRN's Director of Research, Chris Phoenix.
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