DNA Origami Nanobots Could Deliver Drugs in Animals

Israeli researchers have created nanobot DNA structures inside a living cockroach, then watched their structure target one of the insect's cells.

In "Universal Computing by DNA Origami Robots in a Living Animal," a paper published in Nature Nanomaterials, the researchers describe how they 'unwound' strands of DNA and used them to build origami nanobox structures that they then filled with a single molecule. Then other similar box structures were made and filled with molecules that would react with the molecule in the first box and with certain proteins found within the cockroach.

Previous research has shown that DNA strands can be programmed, and can mimic circuits and even be made to solve simple math problems. The Israeli team has now built on that research to show that such programmability can be used inside of a living organism to perform work. In the abstract, lead author Yaniv Amir writes, "We successfully used the DNA origami robots in living cockroaches (Blaberus discoidalis) to control a molecule that targets their cells."

The researchers have even assembled a simple DNA computer inside the cockroach. "The interactions generate logical outputs, which are relayed to switch molecular payloads on or off. As a proof of principle, we used the system to create architectures that emulate various logic gates..."

Bob Yirka, writing on phys.org, explains, "By mixing the combinations, it's possible to cause the box to open using logic operations such as AND, OR, NOT (where the box will not open if a certain protein is present) etc., and that of course means that computational operations can be carried out--all inside of a living organism."

Because the nanobots are labelled with fluorescent markers, the researchers can follow them and analyze how different combinations of nanobots affect where payloads are delivered. The researchers say their accuracy of delivery and degree of control of the nanobots is also equivalent to a computer system.

"This is the first time that biological therapy has been able to match how a computer processor works," co-author Ido Bachelet of the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at Bar Ilan University told Sarah Spickernell of NewScientist.com.

Though this has not been accomplished yet, the researchers theorize that this programmable DNA could be used to deliver drug payloads or to destroy cancer cells. "DNA nanorobots could potentially carry out complex programs that could one day be used to diagnose or treat diseases with unprecedented sophistication," said co-author Daniel Levner, a bioengineer at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

Stephen Levy is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.