DNA Nanorobotics
Venue
Nanorobotics (2013), pp. 355-382
Publication Year
2013
Authors
Harish Chandran, Nikhil Gopalkrishnan, John H. Reif
BibTeX
Abstract
This chapter overviews the current state of the emerging discipline of DNA
nanorobotics that make use of synthetic DNA to self-assemble operational
molecular-scale devices. Recently there have been a series of quite astonishing
experimental results—which have taken the technology from a state of intriguing
possibilities into demonstrated capabilities of quickly increasing scale and
complexity. We first state the challenges in molecular robotics and discuss why DNA
as a nanoconstruction material is ideally suited to overcome these. We then review
the design and demonstration of a wide range of molecular-scale devices; from DNA
nanomachines that change conformation in response to their environment to DNA
walkers that can be programmed to walk along predefined paths on nanostructures
while carrying cargo or performing computations, to tweezers that can repeatedly
switch states. We conclude by listing major challenges in the field along with some
possible future directions.
