The oscillating synthesis and degradation of regulatory RNA molecules was used to produce a molecular clock to control the opening and closing of a DNA tweezers, and also to control the production of another RNA molecule to alter the fluorescence of a dye molecule.
The Singularity University Executive Program recently took on the challenges of advanced nanotech: Nanotechnology: How should we evaluate the environmental impact of human-made machines that are too small to see? What limits should be placed on self-replicating nanodevices? What defenses should we institute against malevolent uses of such technology? These questions were asked by Marc… Continue reading Singularity University takes on advanced nanotech questions
A complex piece of DNA that acts as a biological computer when it is inserted into cells determines whether or not the cell is a specific type of cancer cell, and if so, initiates the suicide of that cell.
Electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope cause a molecule of butyl methyl sulfide to rotate about a single sulfur atom attached to a copper surface.
News articles by Jon Cartwright on the Chemistry World news site and by Michael Berger at Nanowerk describe a significant molecular machine milestone achieved by the research groups of David A. Leigh (winner of the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology for Theory) and Anne-Sophie Duwez. The research was reported in Nature Nanotechnology [abstract].… Continue reading First direct measurement of force generated by an individual synthetic molecular machine
Submit your own work or nominate a colleague for the 2011 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes.
A neural network made from 112 DNA strands organized into four artificial neurons was trained with four pieces of information to answer questions.
The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund has awarded a grant to study the development of molecular gears for use in future molecular machines. From an Austin College news release “Chemist awarded $50,000 grant“ Dr. Stephanie Gould, assistant professor of chemistry at Austin College, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the American Chemical Society… Continue reading American Chemical Society grant to study molecular gears
Will an inexpensive automated evolution machine accelerate the development of molecular machine systems by simultaneously evolving multiple parts to improve function?
A new book collects the papers and discussions from the 2007 Solvay Conference “From Noncovalent Assemblies to Molecular Machines”.
