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Home → Blog → DNA machines

DNA machines

Posted on March 12, 2006 by Lynn Charles Rathbun

Ever think about taking your DNA out for a walk? Well not exactly taking YOUR DNA out for a walk but scientists have made DNA molecules that can walk. It turns out that DNA is a pretty interesting molecule and you can make all sorts of shapes. You can make circles, you can also make DNA that is shaped like a ‘Y’. But you can also make DNA that will move from one place to another by designing the sequence so that it grabs on to one strand of DNA and then another. Kind of like climbing hand over hand on a set of monkey bars, except these walkers are only a few nanometers in size. There are lots of tiny machines found in nature, machines that help move stuff around inside of a cell. They are all pretty simple and the challenge for nanotechnology is make machines that can do some serious work. Source:DNA machines take a walk

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