Nanodot: the original nanotechnology weblog

The conceptual history of nanotechnology is usually traced to a classic talk “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” that Richard Feynman gave on December 29th 1959 at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which was first published in Caltech Engineering and Science, Volume 23:5, February 1960, pp 22-36. Feynman gave an updated version of that talk on October 25, 1984 during a weeklong experiential seminar at the Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California, called “Idiosyncratic Thinking”. He called the talk “Tiny Machines”. A video of Feynman’s 1984 talk has surfaced on YouTube (with an appropriate bongo drum introduction). A hat tip to Wayne Radinsky for passing this along. This 1 hour 19 minute updated speech is similar in content to an updated speech Feynman had given on February 23, 1983 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California to reconsider his 1959 talk in light of subsequent developments. The JPL speech was titled “Infinitesimal Machinery”, edited from a video by Stephen D. Senturia, and published ten years after it was given in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems Volume 2:1 March 1993. I found a copy of the article here.
—James Lewis, PhD

The shear-activated nanotherapeutic breaks apart and releases its drug when it encounters regions of vascular narrowing (credit: Wyss Institute).

A novel nanoparticle that aggregates under normal blood flow but breaks apart under high shear stress encountered in regions of vascular narrowing was found to improve survival in mice with occluded blood vessels with 1/50th of the normal dose of a standard clot-busting drug. A hat tip to KurzweilAI for describing this news release “Harvard’s Wyss Institute Develops Novel Nanotherapeutic that Delivers Clot-Busting Drugs Directly to Obstructed Blood Vessels“:

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a novel biomimetic strategy that delivers life-saving nanotherapeutics directly to obstructed blood vessels, dissolving blood clots before they cause serious damage or even death. This new approach enables thrombus dissolution while using only a fraction of the drug dose normally required, thereby minimizing bleeding side effects that currently limit widespread use of clot-busting drugs.

The research findings, which were published online today in the journal Science [abstract], have significant implications for treating major causes of death, such as heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism, that are caused by acute vascular blockage by blood thrombi.

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From Desiree D. Dudley, Foresight Director of Development and Outreach:

1)Foresighters Christine Peterson and Desiree Dudley will be speaking at NASA-Ames’ Singularity University this Monday night, August 13th, from 8-10pm. Presentations are from 8-9, and a Q&A panel with H+’s Amy Li and SU’s Jose Cordiero 9-10pm! Topics will include nanotech, biotech, life-extension, and our exciting new futurist youth outreach initiative. There will be champagne. Come out and see us! Building 583C.

2)Foresight CoFounder Christine Peterson and Director Desiree Dudley will appear in their role as mentors for the Thiel Foundation’s 20Under20 in CNBC’s documentary “20Under20: Transforming Tomorrow”. See these brilliant young people in CNBC’s upcoming documentary, 9-11pm EDT this Tuesday, August 14th! (It’s a 2-part documentary; the 1st episode actually first airs at 10pm EDT on Monday, but re-airs at 9pm EDT Tuesday before the second part at 10pm EDT.) Video trailer: http://youtu.be/F_YR7sfXjl0

I am speaking on nanotechnology at a free event at Stanford this Wednesday evening.

The Nanocentury: Bringing Digital Control to the Physical World. Throughout human history, our species has worked to control the matter surrounding us — building larger and larger, smaller and smaller, more and more precise. The payoffs from these efforts are starting to accelerate, as we move toward the ability to build physical objects with atomic precision, just as we program information with bit-level precision. What will this mean for our bodies, our minds, our families, our nations, our culture, our planet? There’s good news and bad news, but one thing’s clear — we are in for a wild ride!

Hope to see you there!  (Sadly, I don’t think they are webcasting or video recording.) —Christine Peterson

(Credit: Image courtesy of University of California-Los Angeles)

Early this year we commented on progress in designing an artificial enzyme to catalyze the Diels-Alder reaction, an important cycloaddition reaction in synthetic organic chemistry that had been proposed as one strategy to develop molecular building block for molecular manufacturing. A new understanding of exactly how the Diels-Alder reaction occurs validates computational methods that may lead to the ability to design a protein catalyst for whatever reaction is needed. A hat tip to ScienceDaily for reprinting this UCLA news release “New insights into how the most iconic reaction in organic chemistry really works“:

… Now, Kendall N. Houk, UCLA’s Saul Winstein Professor of Organic Chemistry, and colleagues report exactly how the Diels–Alder reaction occurs. Their research is published this week in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [abstract] and will be published in an upcoming print edition.

“We have examined the molecular dynamics of the Diels–Alder reaction, which has become the most important reaction in synthesis, in detail to understand how it happens,” said Houk, who is a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Houk and his colleagues created a number of simulations — he calls them short movies — of molecules coming together and reacting. …

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(Credit: Lukmaan A. Bawazer et al. in PNAS)

In considering biomolecule-based paths toward advanced nanotechnology, one wonders how limited biomolecules might prove to be in synthesizing materials that are not based upon biomolecules. This could be particularly problematic in the case of materials that would kill the bacteria that are used in standard genetic engineering technologies. Now University of California, Santa Barbara, scientists have developed synthetic cells that can be used to evolve enzymes that make novel structures not seen in nature of silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide. A hat tip to KurzweilAI.net for pointing to this ars technica report “Artificial cells evolve proteins to structure semiconductors“:

… The scientists synthesized the proteins coded for by these new genes and studied the minerals produced by each one. The standard protein, silicatein α, makes clumps of silica particles. Both new proteins, however, produced dispersed nanoparticles containing the metal oxides. And the new silica-forming protein, named silicatein X1, could even make folded sheets of silica-protein fibers.

Directed evolution is not limited to these silica-forming proteins, as other organisms have proteins to make interesting materials too. Some marine sponges produce fiberglass that could be used as optical wave guides. And some bacteria build magnetic nanoparticles.

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One of the most promising applications of near-term nanomedicine is in the targeted control of gene expression. Nanoparticles show great promise here because they can be large and complex enough to mimic cellular processes of gene regulation for medical applications. By combining a protein enzyme and a DNA molecule on gold nanoparticles to mimic the gene regulatory mechanism called RNA interference, a “nanozyme” was able to destroy hepatitis C virus in human liver cells and in the livers of mice. A hat tip to Next Big Future for pointing to this University of Florida news release “UF researchers develop ‘nanorobot’ that can be programmed to target different diseases“:

University of Florida researchers have moved a step closer to treating diseases on a cellular level by creating a tiny particle that can be programmed to shut down the genetic production line that cranks out disease-related proteins.

In laboratory tests, these newly created ldquo;nanorobotsrdquo; all but eradicated hepatitis C virus infection. The programmable nature of the particle makes it potentially useful against diseases such as cancer and other viral infections.

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(Credit: Lee Cronin via KurzweilAI.net)

We’ve speculated here about whether 3D printers could lead toward nanofactories and noted recent progress in fast printing of arbitrarily complex three dimensional objects with 100-nanometer resolution. For the most part, 3D printers have been used to print solid objects made from plastic. Now chemist Leroy Cronin at Glasgow University is working on making 3D printers print molecules—becoming a universal chemistry set. A hat tip to KurzweilAI.net for pointing to this article by Tim Adams in The Observer. From “The ‘chemputer’ that could print out any drug“:

Professor Lee Cronin is a likably impatient presence, a one-man catalyst. “I just want to get stuff done fast,” he says. And: “I am a control freak in rehab.” Cronin, 39, is the leader of a world-class team of 45 researchers at Glasgow University, primarily making complex molecules. But that is not the extent of his ambition. A couple of years ago, at a TED conference, he described one goal as the creation of “inorganic life”, and went on to detail his efforts to generate “evolutionary algorithms” in inert matter. He still hopes to “create life” in the next year or two.

At the same time, one branch of that thinking has itself evolved into a new project: the notion of creating downloadable chemistry, with the ultimate aim of allowing people to “print” their own pharmaceuticals at home. Cronin’s latest TED talk asked the question: “Could we make a really cool universal chemistry set? Can we ‘app’ chemistry?” “Basically,” he tells me, in his office at the university, with half a grin, “what Apple did for music, I’d like to do for the discovery and distribution of prescription drugs.” …

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Nanotechnology covers a wide range of topics—from visionary proposals of atomically precise manufacturing a few decades from now to materials available now that have unique and useful properties because their structures are controlled in at least one dimension to a precision of at least 100 nm. Clearly presenting such a diverse group of topics in a brief video is a challenging assignment. A hat tip to Gina Miller for passing along this very commendable video of just over 17 minutes “NANOYOU – Narrated by Stephen Fry“. The film was produced “as a resource for young people, teachers and anyone interested to get a quick introduction to Nanoscience.” It was funded by the European Commission for the NANOYOU project, “an education portal about all things nano”. Well worth exploring, and a great resource to recommend to others who want a quick and painless introduction to nanotechnology.
—James Lewis, PhD

(Credit: EteRNA)

As we pointed out a few months ago, the greater complexity of folding rules for RNA compared to its chemical cousin DNA gives RNA a greater variety of compact, three-dimensional shapes and a different set of potential functions than is the case with DNA, and this gives RNA nanotechnology a different set of advantages compared to DNA nanotechnology as a road towards atomically precise manufacturing. Proteins have even more complex folding rules and an even greater variety of structures and functions. We also noted here that online gamers playing Foldit topped scientists in redesigning a protein to achieve a novel enzymatic activity that might be especially useful in developing molecular building blocks for molecular manufacturing. Now KurzweilAI.net brings news of an online game that allows players to design RNA molecules “New videogame lets amateur researchers mess with RNA“.

EteRNA, an online game with more than 38,000 registered users, allows players to design molecules of ribonucleic acid — RNA — that have the power to build proteins or regulate genes.

EteRNA players manipulate nucleotides, the fundamental building blocks of RNA, to coax molecules into shapes specified by the game.

Those shapes represent how RNA appears in nature while it goes about its work as one of life’s most essential ingredients.

EteRNA was developed by scientists at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon universities, who use the designs created by players to decipher how real RNA works. The game is a direct descendant of Foldit — another science crowdsourcing tool disguised as entertainment — which gets players to help figure out the folding structures of proteins.

The game’s elite players compete for a unique and wondrous prize: the chance to have RNA designs of their own making brought to life. Every two weeks, four to 16 player-designed molecules are picked to be synthesized in an RNA lab at Stanford.

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The 2013 Foresight Technical Conference
Illuminating Atomic Precision

January 11-13, 2013
Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, Palo Alto, CA USA

Over 30 speakers will present reviews and research on a wide variety of groundbreaking atomic- and molecular-scale science and technology, interesting intrinsically and for aiding the development of atomically precise technologies, devices and materials. Events will include an opening reception with a special panel discussion on Friday night and the Feynman Prize Awards Banquet on Saturday night.

Conference Co-Chairs
J. Fraser Stoddart, Board of Trustees Professor, Northwestern University
Larry S. Millstein, President, Foresight Institute

Conference Sponsors
The Thiel Foundation
Autodesk

Sessions
Atomic Scale Devices
Chair: John Randall – President, Zyvex Labs
Molecular Machines & Non-Equilibrium Processes
Chair: J. Fraser Stoddart – Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University
Self-Organizing & Adaptive Systems
Chair: Lee Cronin – Gardiner Chair of Chemistry, Glasgow University
Commercially Implemented Single Molecule Technologies
Chair: Steve Turner – Founder/CTO, Pacific Biosciences
Computation and Molecular Nanotechnology
Chair: Alexander Wissner-Gross – Harvard and MIT Media Lab

Look for further details on the conference, the speakers and the events in the coming weeks and months. Registration will open in late July or early August.

Researchers successfully used this nanoparticle, made from several strands of DNA and RNA, to turn off a gene in tumor cells. (credit: : Hyukjin Lee and Ung Hee Lee)

The phenomenon of RNA interference offers one of the most promising therapeutic options of the past decade. Small interfering RNA molecules (siRNAs) specifically decrease the expression of a targeted gene by binding to and destroying the messenger RNA produced by that gene. Delivering these siRNAs to where they are needed is, however, a major challenge. Various types of nanoparticles have shown some success, but a new atomically precise nanoparticle made from DNA and RNA offers better targeting and fewer side effects. A hat tip to KurzweilAI for reprinting this MIT news release “Researchers achieve RNA interference, in a lighter package“:

Using a technique known as “nucleic acid origami,” chemical engineers have built tiny particles made out of DNA and RNA that can deliver snippets of RNA directly to tumors, turning off genes expressed in cancer cells.

To achieve this type of gene shutdown, known as RNA interference, many researchers have tried — with some success — to deliver RNA with particles made from polymers or lipids. However, those materials can pose safety risks and are difficult to target, says Daniel Anderson, an associate professor of health sciences and technology and chemical engineering, and a member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.

The new particles, developed by researchers at MIT, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Harvard Medical School, appear to overcome those challenges, Anderson says. Because the particles are made of DNA and RNA, they are biodegradable and pose no threat to the body. They can also be tagged with molecules of folate (vitamin B9) to target the abundance of folate receptors found on some tumors, including those associated with ovarian cancer — one of the deadliest, hardest-to-treat cancers.

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Dark matter detector: A WIMP (dark-matter particle) from the Galaxy scatters elastically with a gold nucleus situated in a thin gold foil. The recoiling gold nucleus traverses hanging strings of single stranded DNA, and severs any ssDNA it hits. The location of the breaks can be found by amplifying and sequencing the fallen ssDNA segment, thereby allowing reconstruction of the track of the recoiling gold nucleus with nanometer accuracy. (Credit: Andrzej Drukier et al.)

Nanotechnology is about exploring and implementing the ultimate methods for arranging the atoms in the world around us to suit our purposes. But atoms and all forms of visible matter make up only 4% of the universe, the remainder being dark matter and dark energy. In honor of today’s announcement of the discovery of a Higgs-like scalar boson (reported, for example, here), which may lead to new, deeper understanding of the rest of the universe, I cannot resist pointing to this new nanotechnology-based device that may prove useful in detecting dark matter. From KurzweilAI.net “Revolutionary ‘DNA tracking chamber’ could detect dark matter“:

Physicists and biologists plan to build a dark matter detector out of DNA that will outperform anything available today, Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog reports.

Current experiments to find dark matter are looking for the unique signature that dark matter is thought to produce as a result of the Earth’s passage around the Sun.

During one half of the year, the dark matter forms headwind as the Earth ploughs into it; for the other half of the year, it forms a tailwind.

There’s a straightforward way to make better observations that should solve this conundrum. The dark matter signal should vary, not just over the course of a year, but throughout the day as the Earth rotates.

The dark matter headwind should be coming from the direction of Cygnus, so a suitable detector should see the direction change as the Earth rotates each day.

However: nobody has built a directional dark matter detector.

A collaboration of physicists and biologists brings together diverse people, such as astrophysicist Katherine Freese at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and George Church at Harvard University in Cambridge, a geneticist and a pioneer in the area of genome sequencing, who say they can use DNA to spot dark matter particles.

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At macro-/meso-scale, an additional perturbation with long-range time correlation is required for unidirectional transport in asymmetric systems. However, at nanoscale, because thermal noise has a significantly long autocorrelation time, unidirectional transport is feasible in asymmetric systems, even in the situation that thermal noise is the only perturbation. In such a situation, extra energy is required to sustain the asymmetry of the system against thermal noise. (Credit: © Science China Press)

A fundamental advance in the theoretical understanding of the role of thermal noise in molecular motors has been made by Chinese scientists. From EurekAlert, this news release from Science in China Press “Thermal noise molecular ratchet mechanism found by researchers in the Chinese Academy of Sciences“:

Designing machines that can be driven by thermal noise is a dream for scientists. In 1912, Smoluchowski presented a gedankenexperiment consisting of an asymmetric ratchet with a pawl that could harness work from thermal noise but the concept was disproved. In 1997, Kelly et al. experimentally designed a molecule and observed spontaneous unidirectional rotations of the molecule (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 36, 1866 (1997)). Later, in a paper entitled “Tilting at Windmills? The Second Law Survives” Davies argued that this observation did not challenge the second law of thermodynamics because the spontaneous unidirectional rotations happened only within a limited angle (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 37, 909 (1998)). In 2007, Fang et al. theoretically proposed a charge-driven molecular water pump, in which water spontaneously flows from one side to the other through a nanochannel with asymmetrically distributed charges that are adjacent to the nanochannel (Nat Nanotechnol. 2, 709 (2007)). This pump has been empirically queried, from the viewpoint of whether the second law of thermodynamics holds. Recently, Professor Fang Haiping and his group from the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences theoretically showed that asymmetric transport is feasible in nanoscale systems experiencing thermal noise, without the presence of external fluctuations. The key to this theoretical advance is the recognition that thermal noise, previously considered to be white noise, is not white at the nanoscale, i.e., the autocorrelation time of thermal noise becomes significantly long in nanoscale systems. Their work, entitled “Asymmetric transportation induced by thermal noise at the nanoscale”, was published in SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy. 2012, doi: 10.1007/s11433-012-4695-8.

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This schematic shows how the various elements assemble themselves into mechanically interlocked molecules (Credit: University of Windsor).

Canadian chemists have induced a metal-organic framework to self-assemble and function as a molecular wheel on an axle in a solid state material. From a University of Windsor news article “Chemists break new ground in molecular machine research“:

A graduate student and his team of researchers have turned the chemistry world on its ear by becoming the first ever to prove that tiny interlocked molecules can function inside solid materials, laying the important groundwork for the future creation of molecular machines.

“Until now, this has only ever been done in solution,” explained Chemistry & Biochemistry PhD student Nick Vukotic, lead author on a front page article recently published in the June issue of the journal Nature Chemistry [abstract]. “We’re the first ones to put this into a solid state material.”

The material Vukotic is referring to is UWDM-1, or University of Windsor Dynamic Material, a powdery substance that the team made which contains rotaxane molecules and binuclear copper centers. The rotaxane molecules, which resemble a wheel around the outside of an axle, were synthesised in their lab. The group found that heating of these rotaxane molecules with a copper source resulted in the formation of a crystalline material which contained structured arrangement of the rotaxane molecules, spaced out by the binuclear copper centers.

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Floyd E. Romesberg, associate professor at Scripps Research Institute (Credit: The Scripps Research Institute)

Back in 1992, in chapter 15 of Nanosystems, Eric Drexler suggested that it would be easier to design proteins that fold predictably, an important step on the road to advanced nanotechnology (or molecular manufacturing, or atomically precise manufacturing) if additional amino acids beyond the 20 that are genetically coded could be incorporated into proteins. Chemical synthesis of peptides has provided a way to accomplish this for small amounts of short proteins, but to obtain large amounts of long proteins, it would be very convenient to expand the genetic alphabet to encode additional amino acids. This long-standing effort has taken a major step forward with the discovery of how artificial DNA base pairs can be replicated. A hat tip to ScienceDaily for reprinting this Scripps Research Institute news release “Scripps Research Institute study suggests expanding the genetic alphabet may be easier than previously thought“:

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute suggests that the replication process for DNA—the genetic instructions for living organisms that is composed of four bases (C, G, A and T)—is more open to unnatural letters than had previously been thought. An expanded “DNA alphabet” could carry more information than natural DNA, potentially coding for a much wider range of molecules and enabling a variety of powerful applications, from precise molecular probes and nanomachines to useful new life forms.

The new study, which appears in the June 3, 2012 issue of Nature Chemical Biology [abstract], solves the mystery of how a previously identified pair of artificial DNA bases can go through the DNA replication process almost as efficiently as the four natural bases.

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Princeton researchers dramatically improved the sensitivity of immunoassays, a common medical test, using the nanomaterial shown here. The material consists of a series of glass pillars in a layer of gold. Each pillar is speckled on its sides with gold dots and capped with a gold disk. Each pillar is just 60 nanometers in diameter, 1/1,000th the width of a human hair. (Credit: Stephen Chou/Analytical Chemistry)

Near-term nanotechnology will not only enrich medicine with new cures, but will contribute to greatly improving existing procedures. For example, a new nanomaterial has improved the sensitivity of a common medical test three million times. A hat tip to ScienceDaily for reprinting this Princeton University news release posted by Steven Schultz “Nanotechnology breakthrough could dramatically improve medical tests“:

A laboratory test used to detect disease and perform biological research could be made more than 3 million times more sensitive, according to researchers who combined standard biological tools with a breakthrough in nanotechnology.

The increased performance could greatly improve the early detection of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders by allowing doctors to detect far lower concentrations of telltale markers than was previously practical.

The breakthrough involves a common biological test called an immunoassay, which mimics the action of the immune system to detect the presence of biomarkers – the chemicals associated with diseases. When biomarkers are present in samples, such as those taken from humans, the immunoassay test produces a fluorescent glow (light) that can be measured in a laboratory. The greater the glow, the more of the biomarker is present. However, if the amount of biomarker is too small, the fluorescent light is too faint to be detected, setting the limit of detection. A major goal in immunoassay research is to improve the detection limit.

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Inside a gold nanoparticle (credit: UCLA)

As nanotechnologists work to build ever more complex nanostructures, working toward complex atomically precise nanostructures, it will become increasingly useful for them to be able to see just what they are building. A new tomographic reconstruction method with scanning transmission electron microscopy delivers 3D images of individual atoms within regions of irregular nanoparticles. From KurzweilAI.net “How to peer within nanoparticles to see atomic structure in 3D“:

UCLA researchers are now able to peer deep within the world&rdsquo;s tiniest structures to create three-dimensional images of individual atoms and their positions. Their research presents a new method for directly measuring the atomic structure of nanomaterials.

“This is the first experiment where we can directly see local structures in three dimensions at atomic-scale resolution — that&rdsquo;s never been done before,” said Jianwei (John) Miao, a professor of physics and astronomy and a researcher with the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA.

Miao and his colleagues used a scanning transmission electron microscope to sweep a narrow beam of high-energy electrons over a tiny gold particle only 10 nanometers in diameter (almost 1,000 times smaller than a red blood cell).

The nanoparticle contained tens of thousands of individual gold atoms. These atoms interact with the electrons passing through the sample, casting shadows that hold information about the nanoparticle&rdsquo;s interior structure onto a detector below the microscope. …

A movie that is part of the free supplementary information associated with the article abstract clearly shows the individual atoms within the four major grains within a 10-nm gold nanoparticle. The next challenge will be to develop imaging capable of resolving individual atoms in 3D within complex nanomachinery made of several different types of atoms, as opposed to homogeneous grains within a nanoparticle.
—James Lewis, PhD

Here shown are two different assembly stages (purple and red) of the protein ubiquitin and the fluorescent probe used to visualize these stage (tryptophan: see yellow). Credit: Peter Allen.

To engineer proteins for use in molecular machine systems leading to advanced nanotechnology, it would be useful to know some of the transient structures through which the protein folds on its journey from a linear chain of amino acid residues to a compact, functional nanomachine. A hat tip to ScienceDaily for reprinting this news release from Université de Montréal, via AlphaGalileo “Researchers watch tiny living machines self-assemble“:

Enabling bioengineers to design new molecular machines for nanotechnology applications is one of the possible outcomes of a study by University of Montreal researchers that was published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology [abstract]. The scientists have developed a new approach to visualize how proteins assemble, which may also significantly aid our understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which are caused by errors in assembly.

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This is a molecular cage created by designing specialized protein puzzle pieces. Every color represents a separate protein, where cylindrical segments indicate rigid parts and ribbon-like segments indicate flexible parts of each protein chain. The grey sphere in the protein cage was placed there to indicate the empty space in the middle of the container and is not part of the molecular structure. (Credit: Todd Yeates, Yen-Ting Lai/UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry)

An advance in protein engineering targeted to better drug delivery methods or artificial vaccines is also an important step toward a general capability to build nanostructures by assembling designed protein domains in a designed rigid configuration. A hat tip to ScienceDaily for reprinting this UCLA news release written by Kim DeRose “Building molecular ‘cages’ to fight disease“:

UCLA biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines.

“This is the first decisive demonstration of an approach that can be used to combine protein molecules together to create a whole array of nanoscale materials,” said Todd Yeates, a UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a member of the UCLA–DOE Institute of Genomics and Proteomics and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Published June 1 in the journal Science [abstract], the research could be utilized to create cages from any number of different proteins, with potential applications across the fields of medicine and molecular biology.

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