NANOSCALE: DNA Robotics

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

CTS-9986348 A. Requicha, University of Southern California Abstract Cutting 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.