The researchers made important step towards the creation of medical nanorobots -
Researchers at the General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Bioorganic chemistry of the Academy of sciences of Russia and MIPT have made an important step towards the creation of medical nanorobots. They found a way to allow nano- and microparticles to produce logical calculations using a variety of biochemical reactions.
Details of the research project are
The document is based on the idea of calculation using biomolecules. In electronic circuits, for example, logical connectors use current or voltage (if voltage, the result is 1, if there is none, it is 0) .In biochemical systems, the result can a substance.
for example, modern bioengineering techniques used to manufacture a cell illuminate with different colors or even programming to die, connecting the initiation of apoptosis result in binary operations.
many scientists believe that logical operations within the cells or artificial biomolecular systems to be a way to control biological processes and micro nanorobots creation and full, which can for example, deliver drugs in time to the tissues where they are needed.
calculations using biomolecules within cells, also known as bioinformatics is a promising industry and the rapid development of science, according to the lead author of the study, Maxim Nikitin, graduated from the Department MIPT of the medical and biological physics 2010. Bioinformatics uses natural cellular mechanisms. It is much more difficult, however, to make calculations on the outside of cells, where there is no natural structures that could help make calculations. The new study focuses specifically on the extracellular bioinformatics.
The study paves the way for a number of biomedical technology and differs significantly from previous work in bioinformatics, which focus on both the outside and inside of cells. Scientists around the world have done research on binary operations in the DNA, RNA and proteins for over a decade now, but Maxim Nikitin was first proposed and experimentally confirm a way to implement all logical operations using nano-and microparticles, which is important not only for the calculation as such, but also to control the behavior of biomedical nanoparticles. In the future, it will bind to a target cell and for the creation of a new platform for analyzing blood and other selective biological materials.
The prefix "nano" in this case is not a fad or a mere formality. A decrease in the particle size sometimes leads to radical changes in the physical and chemical properties of a substance. The larger the size, the greater responsiveness; very small semiconductor particles, for example, can produce fluorescent light. The new research project used nanoparticles (eg, particles of 100 nm) and microparticles (3000 nm or 3 microns.)
The nanoparticles were coated with a special layer, "disintegrated" by different ways when exposed to various combinations of signals. A signal is here the interaction of nanoparticles with a particular substance. For example, to implement the logic "AND" operation a spherical nanoparticle was coated with a layer of molecules, which contained a layer of smaller spheres of a diameter around it. of the outer shell holding the molecules were of two types, each type responsive only to a particular signal; when in contact with two different small spheres substances separated from the surface of a nanoparticleof a larger diameter. Removing the outer layer exposed live parts of the inner particle, and it was then able to interact with its target. So the team got a signal in response to two signals.
For binding antibody nanoparticles, selected researchers. This also distinguishes their project from a number of previous studies in bioinformatics, which used DNA or RNA for logical operations. These natural immune system proteins have a small active region, which responds only to certain molecules; the body uses the high selectivity of the antibodies to recognize and neutralize bacteria and other pathogens.
Ensure that the combination of different types of nanoparticles and antibodies allows to implement various types of logic operations, the researchers showed that cancer cells can be specifically targeted as well. The team obtained not only nanoparticles that can bind to certain cell types, but particles that are looking for the target cells when both of two conditions is satisfied, or when two different molecules are present or absent. This additional control can be helpful for more precise destruction of cancer cells with minimal impact on healthy tissues and organs.
Maxim Nikitin said that although it is as mall step towards creating effective nanobiorobots, that science is very interesting and holds great promise for new research, if we draws an analogy between the early work in creating nanobiocomputers and the creation of the first diodes and transistors, which resulted in the rapid development of computer technology.
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