If you thought nanobots might give us cause for concern when the singularity occurs, how about nanobots made from DNA?
Reporting in the journal Nature, New York University chemistry professor Nadrian Seeman and colleagues describe a tiny DNA factory consisting of a DNA track for assembly, three molecular forklifts that can deliver parts, and a DNA “walker” that moves around like a car on an assembly line.
The team had produced the first such DNA walker in 2004, knitting together strands of DNA to form a mobile molecule. With the walker working in the nano-factory, the plant can be programmed to produce up to eight different combinations of gold nanoparticle chemical species, according to the researchers.
Full story: DNA robots spin gold in molecular factory