The new synthesis of autonomous motion DNA material, the form of motion can be man-made regulation.

With DNA as the base element, through artificial design, from the chemical, engineering and other angles to tap the application potential of this living material, has been more and more researchers concerned.
mentioned DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the first thing we think about is often genetic.
true, in traditional biology, the main function of DNA is to pass genetic information from generation to generation to ensure the continuity of certain characteristics of organisms.
But in the eyes of some materialists, DNA, which is essentially nucleic acid, is no longer a mysterious life code, but the most basic unit for synthesizing a biological material.
this biological material is called DNA because it is "built" from DNA molecules.
have to admit that the creature itself is full of unknowns, and that biological materials, including DNA materials, are infinitely possible.
recently, researchers from Cornell University in the United States, Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nano-Bionics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Nano-Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), and Renji Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (hereinafter referred to as Renji Hospital) synthesized a DNA material that can move autonomously, and its form of motion can also be controlled by human beings.
the results as an original cover article published in the journal Science Robotics.
the space movement of DNA into the material boundary "flow as" THE DNA for the double helix structure, each spiral unit on the "mounted" base, creating the specificity of DNA.
many scientists have developed its assembly capability, which is "long" into a stable, designable structure through complementary pairing of DNA bases.
" DNA as the base, through artificial design, from the chemical, engineering and other angles to tap the application potential of this living material, has been more and more researchers concerned.
" one of the authors of the above-mentioned article, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nano-Biological Interface Key Laboratory associate researcher Gan Mingzhe in an interview with Science and Technology Daily, said that DNA is no longer just a nano-scale biological molecules.
as a popular DNA development application, "THE biocompatibility of DNA materials is very good and promising in the field of medicine." Another big advantage of
DNA materials is that when different nucleic acids are mixed, the properties of synthetic materials are ever-changing, like a rich mine, waiting for people to explore.
" in Gan Mingzhe's view, with the continuous progress of DNA synthesis technology and theoretical computing field, DNA materials have become the material world's "flow star", attracting more and more researchers to participate in its research and development.
in addition to building diverse DNA materials by changing the spatial arrangement of DNA, scientists are also exploring other non-genetic properties of the "cross-border star" of DNA material.
now, researchers have synthesized a "space-moving" DNA material that can be visible to the naked eye, which is closer to the properties of life than the general stimulus response, which the researchers call a "life-like material."
accidental creation of life-like materials can "swim" like fish, many of the discoveries that promote human scientific progress are due to an accident, such as penicillin, X-rays.
and life-like materials, "the dragonfly" is also an accident.
Gan Mingzhe told reporters that the research team was using superglue to detect viral nucleic acids.
superglue, a synthetic DNA material that does not exist in nature, is solid in water and then liquid when it is removed from the water, and researchers want to tap its potential in biotesting.
interesting, they were excited to find that the way superglue spawned in microfluidic chips had changed unexpectedly.
if the diameter of about 100 microns of hair wire reduced 10 times to make a 10 micron diameter of the micro-pipe, "if the water flows in the pipe will become a microfluidic, its unique parallel flow mode - layer flow, and the common liquid flow has a significant difference, it will result in a unique flow field."
," Said Gan Mingzhe. "we found that the production of the DNA material showed a certain correlation with the stratospheric properties of the microfluidics, "
.
can control the synthesis of superglue at a specific spatial location by changing the flow field parameters of the pipeline, and if the concentration and type of enzymes in the microfluidics are changed, the speed of the autosynthesis and decomposition of the superglue can be changed.
" Gan Mingzhe said, this has realized the material synthesis of space, time and two aspects of artificial regulation.
" new substances are constantly produced, and old matter is broken down, much like biological metabolism.
", in GanMingzhe's view, metabolism is the key process to keep life alive, maintaining the stable presence and renewal of DNA material synths in the balance of synthetic and decomposed metabolism, which is very similar to the characteristics of life. "We recreated the process of making DNA materials in the lab in this 'artificial metabolism' similar to life metabolism, "
.
more interesting is that, as a DNA material, it is in the microfluidic enzyme, its "artificial metabolism" is always in the front synthesis, back-end decomposition, overall, this several millimeters long superglue like fish in the water" like a fish, and the naked eye can identify.
this "fish" is also very "tough", and the researchers expected that the direction of its "movement" is not "down the flow", but with the microfluidic flow direction, that is, "reverse flow up."
"Just as people need to metabolize in an aerobic air environment, this kind of life material needs to get 'nutrition' from the microfluidic system and achieve 'artificial metabolism' for autonomous movement."
" said Rodin, one of the authors of the paper and a professor at Cornell University's School of Biological and Environmental Engineering. Asked
the next "treasure" of cell "face" protein synthesis, "This is just the beginning, it can simulate the metabolism of life, and it may show more life-like features in the future, such as the unique evolution of life."
" biology, DNA replication can produce mutations that create an evolutionary opportunity.
", the material also has the same possibility.
" Gan Mingzhe envisions that features such as environmental adaptation may emerge in future studies, resulting in the eventual availability of biological materials for directed evolution in a true sense.
may have evolved more by luck, but some directions can be achieved by the "strength" of scientists.
in Gan Mingzhe's view, the material's cell-free protein synthesis ability is the next step can be developed "treasure."
protein is the basic component of many drugs, vaccines, at present, the synthesis of proteinist is usually done by cultured cells, the type of protein production, yield and quality strictly regulated by the cell, that is to say, the cell "waiting for good."
However, under the current technical conditions, there is a considerable number of protein production is not produced, how much completely depends on the cell "high unhappy", such as some membrane proteins, toxic proteins, metabolic regulatory proteins.
DNA material itself can guide the synthesis of proteins, that is, the use of life-like materials can cross the limits of cells, directly produce proteins.
researchers have already practiced this approach, with a few millimeters of superglue producing a large number of active proteins in a cell-free system.
" the material's biotestcapabilities are also expected in the future.
," Said Gan Mingzhe.
unlike the initial method of measuring fluorescence intensity, the autonomous motion of life-like materials driven by the "artificial metabolism" capability enables material pattern changes on a two-dimensional plane, and is expected to be extended to three-dimensional structural changes in the future.
determines the results by producing different patterns, even changes in shapes visible to the naked eye.
", "this will be the future portable, precise, intelligent biological detection means of an exploration direction.
," Said Gan Mingzhe.
"Our research is still in its infancy, at this stage for the creation of new DNA materials to provide a research direction, but I believe that the future of this kind of life-like materials will be unlimited." liu Peifeng, one of the authors of the
" article and an associate researcher at Renji Hospital, said.
Source: Science Daily.