DNA Nanorobot Halts Growth of Cancer Cells 74
ananyo writes "DNA origami, a technique for making structures from DNA, has been used to build devices that can seek out and potentially destroy cancer cells. The nanorobots use a similar system to cells in the immune system to engage with receptors on the outside of cells. The barrel-shaped devices, each about 35 nanometers in diameter, contain 12 sites on the inside for attaching payload molecules and two positions on the outside for attaching aptamers, short nucleotide strands with special sequences for recognizing molecules on the target cell (abstract). The aptamers act as clasps: once both have found their target, they spring open the device to release the payload. The researchers tested six combinations of aptamer locks, each of which were designed to target different types of cancer cells in culture. Those designed to hit a leukemia cell could pick that cell out of a mixture of cell types, then release their payload — in this case, an antibody — to stop the cells from growing. The researchers designed the structure of the nanorobots using open-source software, called Cadnano."
Re:Test in humans (Score:5, Informative)
If you read the linked article, it says that human defense mechanisms quickly destroy and remove the DNA nanobots (liver filters them out and nucleases, enzymes chew up stray bits of DNA, breaks them up).
Re:Killer apps? (Score:4, Informative)
It is possible - yes. But it would be, by no means, a "scalpel". There will be many in the ethnic group who lack the appropriately formed receptor, and many in the other groups that have it.
Probably more for the GP, but even so, many tools can be used for malevolent purposes, does that mean we shouldn't have them around for the good purposes? Do you think that just because someone came up with it for a benevolent purpose, if they hadn't nobody would have come up with it for a malevolent purpose later.