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A microscopic electric motor made of DNA

The race is on to develop nanometre-scale motors for future tiny machines. The latest entry is a multi-component motor that self-assembles from DNA, harnesses Brownian motion to spin a rotor, and can wind up a molecular spring.
  1. Henry Hess

    1. Henry Hess is in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.

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At the microscopic scale, thermal fluctuations drive the random motion of objects and spontaneous binding and unbinding events. However, microscopic motors are needed to accelerate and direct motion and to power assembly processes in micro- and nanotechnology. Writing in Nature, Pumm et al.1 describe a remarkable nanoscale system that serves this purpose: a rotary motor assembled from DNA structures, powered by electricity.

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Nature 607, 456-457 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01940-4

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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