A DNA machine is a

molecular machine A molecular machine, nanite, or nanomachine is a molecular component that produces quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). In cellular biology, macromolecular machines frequently perform tasks essential for l ...

constructed from DNA. Research into DNA machines was pioneered in the late 1980s by

Nadrian Seeman Nadrian C. "Ned" Seeman (December 16, 1945 – November 16, 2021) was an American nanotechnologist and crystallographer known for inventing the field of DNA nanotechnology. Biography Seeman studied biochemistry at the University of Chicago an ...

and co-workers from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. DNA is used because of the numerous biological tools already found in nature that can affect DNA, and the immense knowledge of how DNA works previously researched by

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...

s. DNA machines can be logically designed since DNA assembly of the double helix is based on strict rules of base pairing that allow portions of the strand to be predictably connected based on their sequence. This "selective stickiness" is a key advantage in the construction of DNA machines. An example of a DNA machine was reported by Bernard Yurke and co-workers at

Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...

in the year 2000, who constructed

molecular tweezers Molecular tweezers, and molecular clips, are host molecules with open cavities capable of binding guest molecules. The open cavity of the molecular tweezers may bind guests using non-covalent bonding which includes hydrogen bonding, metal coor ...

out of DNA. The DNA tweezers contain three strands: A, B and C. Strand A latches onto half of strand B and half of strand C, and so it joins them all together. Strand A acts as a hinge so that the two "arms" — AB and AC — can move. The structure floats with its arms open wide. They can be pulled shut by adding a fourth strand of DNA (D) "programmed" to stick to both of the dangling, unpaired sections of strands B and C. The closing of the tweezers was proven by tagging strand A at either end with light-emitting molecules that do not emit light when they are close together. To re-open the tweezers add a further strand (E) with the right sequence to pair up with strand D. Once paired up, they have no connection to the machine BAC, so float away. The DNA machine can be opened and closed repeatedly by cycling between strands D and E. These tweezers can be used for removing drugs from inside

fullerenes A fullerene is an allotrope of carbon whose molecule consists of carbon atoms connected by single and double bonds so as to form a closed or partially closed mesh, with fused rings of five to seven atoms. The molecule may be a hollow sphere, ...

as well as from a self assembled DNA

tetrahedron In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all ...

. The state of the device can be determined by measuring the separation between donor and acceptor fluorophores using

FRET A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instru ...

DNA walker A DNA walker is a class of nucleic acid nanomachines where a nucleic acid "walker" is able to move along a nucleic acid "track". The concept of a DNA walker was first defined and named by John H. Reif in 2003. A nonautonomous DNA walker requires ext ...

s are another type of DNA machine.

References

DNA nanotechnology Genetics techniques Molecular machines {{genetics-stub

See also

References