NANOSCALE: DNA Robotics

CTS-9986348A。南加州大学的Requicha摘要提出了一种使用计算机控制的扫描探针显微镜(SPM)的尖端作为机器人来切割和粘贴DNA链的方法。DNA机器人是迈向细胞外科发展的一步，而细胞外科是这项工作的长期目标。据设想，可编程的纳米级机器人(或带有纳米级末端执行器的更大设备)与细胞组件相互作用，以修复它们。单细胞手术本身就具有科学价值，因为它将为细胞功能和行为的实验研究提供前所未有的能力。如果人们能够利用细胞的自然繁殖机制，从机器人操纵的原型中产生大量功能正常的细胞，这也将是非常有临床意义的。如果大规模生产纳米机器人，这样它们就可以成群结队地用于治疗病人。这项研究的重点是在体外识别DNA链中的位置，并通过切割和粘合来修改它。这个项目是高度跨学科的，如果没有南加州大学分子机器人实验室提供的人员、技术诀窍和设备的基础设施，就不可能成功开展。多年来，教职员工、博士后和来自不同部门的学生一直在有效地合作，所有必要的设施都是可用的。

CTS-9986348A. Requicha, University of Southern CaliforniaAbstractCutting and pasting DNA strands using the tip of a computer-controlled Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) as a robot is proposed. DNA robotics is a step towards the development of cell surgery, which is the long term goal of the work. It is envisaged programmable nanometer-scale robots (or larger devices with nanoscopic end effectors) interacting with cell components so as to repair them. Surgery on single cells would be of scientific interest in itself, since it would provide unprecedented capabilities for experimental studies of cell function and behavior. It also would be of great clinical interest if one could use cells' natural reproductive mechanisms to generate large numbers of correctly-functioning cells from a robotically-manipulated prototype. If nanorobots were mass-produced so that swarms of them could be deployed to treat a patient.The research with focus on recognizing sites in a DNA strand in vitro, and it modifying it by cutting and glueing. This project is highly interdisciplinary, and could not be successfully undertaken without the infrastructure of people, know-how and equipment provided by USC's Laboratory for Molecular Robotics. Faculty, postdocs and students from various departments have been collaborating effectively for several years, and all the necessary facilities are available.