Independent walking robots made of DNA
…big robots can be loaded with masses of software that guides their actions – no such luck at the nano-level.
The two new studies have solved this problem by programming the robots’ actions into their environment rather than their bodies.
When the [nano] spider steps, it leaves a trail of cut, unattractive DNA behind it, with paths of fresh, enticing strands ahead of it. Its legs could land anywhere but they stay for longer on a piece of track that hasn’t already been stepped on. Even if it steps randomly, it should eventually move to new terrain and by making the track narrow enough so that it can only go in one direction, Lund could steer its steps. It’s a fiendishly clever system – the walking spider shapes its environment in a way that controls its own behaviour.
Welcome to the exciting future of nanotechnology.
