All aboard the nanotrain network

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Doc
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All aboard the nanotrain network

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http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/1 ... in.network
All aboard the nanotrain network
Published: Sunday, November 10, 2013 - 19:02 in Physics & Chemistry
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Nanotrain network created by scientists at Oxford University: green dye-carrying shuttles after 'refuelling' with ATP travel towards the center of the network with their cargoes of green dye.
Adam Wollman/Oxford University

Tiny self-assembling transport networks, powered by nano-scale motors and controlled by DNA, have been developed by scientists at Oxford University and Warwick University. The system can construct its own network of tracks spanning tens of micrometres in length, transport cargo across the network and even dismantle the tracks.

The work is published in Nature Nanotechnology and was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Researchers were inspired by the melanophore, used by fish cells to control their colour. Tracks in the network all come from a central point, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Motor proteins transport pigment around the network, either concentrating it in the centre or spreading it throughout the network. Concentrating pigment in the centre makes the cells lighter, as the surrounding space is left empty and transparent.

The system developed by the Oxford University team is very similar, and is built from DNA and a motor protein called kinesin. Powered by ATP fuel, kinesins move along the micro-tracks carrying control modules made from short strands of DNA. 'Assembler' nanobots are made with two kinesin proteins, allowing them to move tracks around to assemble the network, whereas the 'shuttles' only need one kinesin protein to travel along the tracks.

'DNA is an excellent building block for constructing synthetic molecular systems, as we can program it to do whatever we need,' said Adam Wollman, who conducted the research at Oxford University's Department of Physics. 'We design the chemical structures of the DNA strands to control how they interact with each other. The shuttles can be used to either carry cargo or deliver signals to tell other shuttles what to do.

'We first use assemblers to arrange the track into 'spokes', triggered by the introduction of ATP. We then send in shuttles with fluorescent green cargo which spread out across the track, covering it evenly. When we add more ATP, the shuttles all cluster in the centre of the track where the spokes meet. Next, we send signal shuttles along the tracks to tell the cargo-carrying shuttles to release the fluorescent cargo into the environment, where it disperses. We can also send shuttles programmed with 'dismantle' signals to the central hub, telling the tracks to break up.'

This demonstration used fluorescent green dyes as cargo, but the same methods could be applied to other compounds. As well as colour changes, spoke-like track systems could be used to speed up chemical reactions by bringing the necessary compounds together at the central hub. More broadly, using DNA to control motor proteins could enable the development of more sophisticated self-assembling systems for a wide variety of applications.
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Enki
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Re: All aboard the nanotrain network

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So they have basically built ribosomes?
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Re: All aboard the nanotrain network

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Enki wrote:So they have basically built ribosomes?
Not sure but the article implies something akin to DNA. They are talking about Proteins in a way that seems to mean that mean actual proteins.
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Enki
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Re: All aboard the nanotrain network

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Doc wrote:
Enki wrote:So they have basically built ribosomes?
Not sure but the article implies something akin to DNA. They are talking about Proteins in a way that seems to mean that mean actual proteins.
A ribosome is basically an epigenetic train that travels along the DNA strand and assembles amino acid sequences.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
-Alexander Hamilton
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Doc
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Re: All aboard the nanotrain network

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Enki wrote:
Doc wrote:
Enki wrote:So they have basically built ribosomes?
Not sure but the article implies something akin to DNA. They are talking about Proteins in a way that seems to mean that mean actual proteins.
A ribosome is basically an epigenetic train that travels along the DNA strand and assembles amino acid sequences.
I am no expert in biology Tinker But yeah that seems correct from what I do know. When they make this stuff so it can copy itself then watch out. But we will probably all be replaced by robots at that point.

I read a sci-fi story when I was a kid about a guy that was trying to develop a bacteria that would unstop drains that had plastic in them. The guy finally does it, has a heart attack from the excitement and drops the petri dish into the drain. Where the bacteria almost dies out until a bio-degradable plastic comes on to the market that happens to be the perfect food for the bacteria. The bacteria then evolves into being able to eat other types of plastic. And then pretty much all types of plastic Then the modern world comes to the end. Because plastic is in nearly everything. For a kids book it wasn't too bad.

I think the name was mutant 54 or something like that. Anyway it must of not been too bad for me to remember it after all these years.
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Azrael
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Re: All aboard the nanotrain network

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Wow! This is really cool! :o
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