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Science

DNA-based nanometer-sized moving arm 18

Posted by CmdrTaco from the really-tiny-toys dept.
Benedict Wright writes "Scientists from New York have created a naonmeter sized "robot arm". The two parts of the arm, made from synthetic DNA, can be made to move up to 6 nanometers apart by the addition of a special cobalt compound. Freaky!"
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DNA-based nanometer-sized moving arm

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  • I thought it was even better than Snow Crash.
  • Would you want billions of 10-15 pound dust mites infesting your house?
    --
    Aaron Gaudio
    "The fool finds ignorance all around him.
  • Until it mutates and the gene sequence it destroys is a human one.
    --
    Aaron Gaudio
    "The fool finds ignorance all around him.
  • What about bugs in nano-programs? Imagine what the equivalent of a memory leak would do.

    martian

  • This moving 'DNA robot arm' is just another of many examples of macromolecules that exhibit controlled motions in response to some change in evironment. Ion channels open in response to voltage change. Proteins frequently change conformation in the presence of activators/inhibitors/substrates whatever. The lab I work in has compiled a list of some known examples of macromolecular motion. Check it out at http://bioinfo.mbb.yale.edu
  • Well, we all know what nanotechnology could do to benefit mankind. We've all read sci-fi novels where humans in the future where food and most everything else that is made up of mostly carbon,hydrogen,oxygen,and nitrogen assembled by nanotech "creatures"

    But what about the darker side? What if someone created a nanotech creature programmed kill any living DNA and replicate itself as much as possible? That would be _much_ worse than a virus.
    Furthermore, when the human genome project is completed, you'll be able to single out characteristics of a human being. You could then target out a type of population and wipe them out with nanotech creatures.

    Anyway, as long as this technology stays in the right hands ( and who is to dictate those? ) , then I think its benefits greatly outweigh its potential for destruction.

    A little "replicated" food for thought. =)

  • Scientists from New York have created a naonmeter sized "robot arm.

    The citizens of New York must be stopped at all costs. This will give the New York Air Force too much of an advantage over the rest of us. The Prime Minister of New York must be eliminated.
  • We can already remove human life from this planet whenever we feel like it.
  • This is programming on the atomic level. Animals and plants are simply programs written in chemical reactions. It will be interesting to see what happens when hacking the life force becomes widespread. Lots of good and bad will come from it.
    Interesting...
  • Just because it is small, does not make it nanotechnology. And all of these implications have been discussed to great length. I suggest reading some of the forsight updates at www.forsight.org. Also, there are many good books out there. The biggest problem people fear, is having a "buggy" nanobot, like the kinds which would reprocess matter, which, being self-replicating, went on a rampage quickly turning everything into "Grey goo". Now _that's_ scarry.
  • If nanotechnology is freely available, the first thing to be produced would be immune systems to keep this from happening. Don't get me wrong: I don't have enough faith in every human on the planet to say that no one will die; in fact, I have the faith in every human to say that somebody's a nast bastard and will kill a lot of people. But I don't see anyone producing chlorine gas in large quantities even though it's easy as fuck to produce and very poisonous. Most people just aren't that mean, and those that are, well, we can defend ourselves if it's kept out of exclusive hands.

    -Tesla

  • Now they use their new nanometer-sized arms on their nanometer-sized selves while they're perusing Slashdot and #netsex, and still be able to keep two hands on the keyboard. Just a thought. :)

    Cheers,
    ZicoKnows@hotmail.com

  • Sounds very similar to a Joe Haldeman story, "For White Hill", where the entire surface of the Earth is sterilised by a "nano-virus" that unzips the DNA double helix. The only people who can survive (sans spacesuit) are those humans who have had their DNA engineered so that the helix rotates "backwards". Pretty disturbing stuff, and hopefully many decades down the road...
  • Rob, I'd just like to say I appreciate all the nanotech stories lately. This is some really interesting stuff, and I think it fits the mindset of this site's viewers very well. Keep it up!
  • Life is simply programs written in chemical reactions. The interesting question her is (to me) what is the software and what is the hardware.
    At first I tried to say one was one and another... you get the gist. And then, "Hold on, wait a minute."
    Well, it is a subject we have been debating for three years and verges on a religion to the OTK, as a writer from the right side of things, (primarily) it leaves me curious.

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