A team of researchers led by Dr. Musumi Akter has developed the world's first nanorobots that
Microrobots and nanorobots have very few practical applications due to their size, but if they work together, their usefulness increases exponentially.
Swarm robotics is a new disciplinewhich emerged from observations of animals and living organisms working together. A swarm is an ordered group in which individuals interact. Nanorobots built on this principle can be used for transporting and collecting cargo, as well as in the construction of complex structures.
The team designed about five millionnanorobots. They consisted of two biological components: microtubules associated with DNA and kinesin, an actuator that can transport microtubules.
DNA combined with a light-sensitive compoundcalled azobenzene - it functions as a sensor and helps control the swarm. If the compound is exposed to visible light, then double strands of DNA and many microtubules are formed in its structure. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation reverses this process.
The authors used a load - these are polystyreneballs with a diameter from a micrometer to tens of micrometers. These beads were treated with azobenzene-linked DNA. As a result, the cargo was withdrawn when exposed to visible light and released when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Individual nanorobots can download andtransport polystyrene beads with a diameter of up to 3 micrometers, and a swarm transports cargo with a diameter of up to 30 micrometers. The researchers also compared how far they can carry loads. As a result, the swarm was five times more efficient at transport than single nanorobots.
Read more:
It has been hunted for centuries: what do we know about the planet Vulcan next to the Sun
Physicists have experimentally confirmed a new fundamental law for liquids
Astronomers have found the source of mysterious radio bursts that come from space