A researcher in Germany developed the first electric nanomotors made of DNA. The nanomotors were created using a technique called DNA origami. Just like in paperwork, this method used to create tiny robots involves folding DNA strands into three-dimensional shapes in a complex structure. Past examples include virus traps, immunosuppressant drug systems, and microscopic copies of Van Gogh. These structures are formed by the careful selection of DNA sequences that fold and bind to each other in specific ways. With this method, researchers can add specific strands to a solution, allowing DNA objects to self-assemble.
Researchers have used this process for the first time to make a molecular engine from DNA. The motor consists of a 500 nanometer long rotor arm, which is fixed to a glass plate and mounted on a base about 40 nanometers high. With several ratchet booms wrapped around the end of the base just below the rotor, this platform controls where the rotor can spin.
To start the nanomotor, AC voltage is applied over two electrodes, and the resulting power makes the rotor rotate. Researchers can control the speed and direction of this rotation by changing the direction of the electric field and interfering with the frequency and magnitude of the applied voltage.
What could nanomotors made from DNA give us in the future?
Although the created system is the first nanomotor made of DNA, similar designs to this system have not been made in the past. Some of these could be simple nanorods that responded to ultrasound, while others were made up of very few atoms. It is stated that while previous designs have the potential to activate tiny robots, the new DNA nanomotor could be used in chemistry.
Hendrik Dietz, the lead author of the study, who said that they can use it to carry out user-defined chemical reactions in the future by developing the engine further, said, “If we can make the improvements we aim for, we can densely coat the surfaces we want with such engines. “When we then add the starting materials and apply some AC voltage, the motors can produce the chemical compounds we desire,” he said.
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