Contact:
sales@biotechnologyforums.com to feature here

Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Emerging Era of Bio-Nano-Robots
#1
THE TRIGGER
In 2005, researchers from the Rice University came up with an extra-ordinary research. It was about a successful test of a "Four Wheeled" molecule, driven on a nano-scale gold surface, what you may understand as "A molecular car driven on the road of gold!" The wheels of the miniature car were made of Bucky balls (buckminster fullerenes or C60-80 molecule), with a body/chassis and axle synthesized by palladium-catalyzed reaction(s).
Flat gold surface ensured an inert road for the nano-car, on which it could move translation-ally without tumbling on it's wheels. Steering of the car could be controlled by using Scanning Tunneling Microscope tips which can induce a change in electric potential between the surface and the molecular car, leading to motion of the molecule!.
There are other modes of inducing the motion too, like application of heat energy to induce vibrations in the surface to cause the movement of the molecule (the conventional means of powering the nano-scale motors). Following video helps explain the concept of fueling of nano-motors:


Development of such a molecular motor with wheels and chassis, resembling a macro-world truck/car was an altogether new approach towards making nano-motors. Also, Tufts University Scientists has reported a single molecule nano-scale motor that could rotate at a point upon empowering with Heat/STM tip. Their molecular motor basically had a thioether molecule with 2 carbon chains around. But, Rice University's model is truly a molecule scale car, and indeed the future of Nano-robot designs. If such motors/molecular cars could be developed for practically any surface, it might lead to a radical rise in the prospects of nano-medicine delivery and nano-bot (nano robots) mediated tissue repair. Thus the research acted as the stepping stone and an advanced reminder for further research on molecular motors that could lead to a bio-compatible Nano-Robot!

BIOTECHNOLOGICAL LEAPS IN NANO-ROBOTS' DEVELOPMENT
Considering the need for a bio-compatible, yet controllable molecular motors, biotechnology came up with the ideas of using some non-pathogenic naturally occurring molecular motors (some in the form of whole bacteria, some as flagellar motors, other as artificial magnetotactism) as the immediate and efficient solution to creating a versatile and robust Nano-Motor/Bio-molecular Car, which could carry the payload and deliver it to the site concerned and even carry out the tissue repairs of injured sites.

Bacteria as Nano-Robots

Non-pathogenic forms of flagellated bacteria were the first hopes of the scientists as a naturally available fully functional molecular robot. The movement of such bacteria according to changing concentration of salts/pH/nutrients (called as Chemotactism), has been seen as the best way of controlling the motion of these Biomolecular-Robots. But recently, with the reports publishing on the application of Flagellated MTBs (Magnetotactic bacteria) as the fully controllable way of delivering payload to even deep blood vessels at specific points, the interest has shifted to Magnetotactic bacteria as future Bio-Nano-Robots, than the chemotactic bacteria.
Following is a link to freely available research article on MTBs as Bio-Robots:

http://wiki.polymtl.ca/nano/images/1/10/...ylvain.pdf

Bacterial Flagella as a Nano-Motor
The mode of functioning of bacterial flagellar apparatus makes it a potential candidate for being used as a motor to drive molecular chassis made of synthetic materials. Basically, bacterial flagella works on the principle of electrochemical potential generated by differential concentration(s) of H+ ions (see video below). The functioning is quite similar to artificially induced potential by STM Tips, but unlike STM tips (which is an external inervention), flagellar motor has an inherent mechanism to generate the potential using it's own apparatus. So, an extraction and fitiing of this apparatus in synthetic chassis, could rather enable functioning of the molecular cars in biological fluids too, where flagellar apparatus has the tendency to function.


Induced Magnetotactism: Biological way of converting normal bacteria to Magnetotactic Robots


Recently (September 2011), scientists from Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA and
Department of Aerospace Information Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea came up with a new way of "Inducing" magnetotactism in otherwise normal bacteria! They converted Tetrahymena pyriformis GL , a normal flagellated bacteria, to a magnetotactic bacteria by inserting iron-oxide nano-particles into the same. The resultant bacteria could extra-ordinarily be controlled very efficiently by using time varying magnetic fields!
. This really paves the way for making any flagellated non-pathogenic bacteria, a cellular robot, which could be used for delivery and manipulation at specific sites in the body, just by driving it with a magnetic field!

The above listed instances of Biotechnological approaches to Nano-Robots' development really make us realize the huge potential & applications of the living world for the new age discoveries, even as sophisticated as Nanotechnology. There's a lot of untapped potential in the simple living systems like bacteria. Biotechnology has made the task of making a nano-robot extremely simple, which was otherwise regarded as extremely daunting by world renowned Physicists, Mechanical engineers, mathematicians etc.
The field of biotechnology might currently seem extremely limited to the new entrants, but may be it's because of the fact that what we see as "all the doors already opened", could just be the windows only! Doors are yet to be opened, and for that one needs to believe, think and act in biotechnical way for every possible problem being faced today!

"Solutions to the problems of living/natural systems cannot be synthetic, it has to be living/natural only!"


Thanks
Like Post Reply
  




Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)

Emerging Era of Bio-Nano-Robots51