SCIENTISTS have created a robot made from DNA that can be instructed to find diseased cells in the body and deliver a payload to kill or reprogram them, according to a study from Harvard University.
The robot was made by folding DNA strands into a shape roughly like a clamshell. The researchers programmed the nano-sized device to open in the presence of leukaemia and lymphoma cells in a laboratory dish, where they delivered immune system antibodies that caused the cells to self-destruct, according to a report in the journal Science.The next step will be to test the system in animals, tweaking the robot so it can circulate longer to locate all cancer cells. The technology isn't ready for commercial use, said Shawn Douglas, an author of the study.
The idea is based on the behavior of the body's immune cells, which recognize viruses or other invaders and attack them.
The DNA nano-robots, with similar capabilities, may potentially lead to the development of new types of targeted cancer treatments that kill only abnormal cells.The robots don't reproduce. They have to be built in a process that has gained traction since the idea of DNA nanotechnology was first suggested in 1982.DNA is a material, shaped in the form of a revolving ladder, that carries the genetic information in our cells. The double-sided strands have so-called sticky ends that allow them to be joined with other DNA. Scientists, led by Nadrian Seeman, now head of the department of chemistry at New York University, have used those sticky ends to form DNA into lattices that can be shaped.
