Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute Develop DNA Nanorobot to Trigger Targeted Therapeutic Responses

Harvard research team has successfully developed a nanorobot which can detect a specific cell and do a specific task programed by the team. Mentioning robot, it is usually thought to be a metal equipment which can control by a program written by the scientist. However, this nanorobot actually is built by DNA origami technique in which a long artificial DNA template strain is combined with other short ones created and coded by the Harvard research team. It has the shape of a hexagonal cylinder and can open in half like a clam shell. The two half shell are locked by two tails—DNA latches—where each of them is a DNA double helix.  In the environment which is lack of the key—chemical that reacts with the double helix chain and untwists it, the lock stays twisted and holds the shell closed tightly. When the nanorobot is released into the environment where there are target cells which secrets the key, the double helix chain will be untwisted and thus open the shell. Inside the shell, there are payload—the chemical needed to be delivered—attached to the shell by anchor and linker strands. In addition, made by the coded DNA, the surface of the shell are designed to recognize the target cell in order to eliminate the effect on healthy cells. Finally, The research team succeeded in testing if the nanorobots could recognize cancer cells and deliver the payload by mixing a small amount of cancer cells into a large amount of healthy cell and check if the nanorobots do with they are supposed to do.

I am interested in this article and video clip since I am very into nanotechnology. There are a lot of amazing and fascinating applications nanotech and nanorobots can do. In my opinion, this nanorobot will make the base for scientists and doctors to go further in finding the cure for uncured diseases such as cancers and HIV. The problem of targeting the right cells and delivering drug to the right place is now solved in the nano-scale. If they can successfully create the right shell, the right DNA latches, and the right payload, curing these disease is in their hand.  

http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpressrelease/75/