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Imagine if scientists could grab virus particles the way we grab a tennis ball or a clementine and prevent them from infecting cells. Well, scientists in Illinois have created a four-fingered microscopic hand to do just that.
A team of scientists led by Xing Wang of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has created a tiny hand, called a NanoGripper, from a single piece of folded DNA that can capture Covid-19 particles, their findings, detailed Nov. 27 study published in a journal Scientific roboticsshows that the hand can perform a rapid test to detect the virus as well as prevent the particles from infecting healthy cells. Although the study focused specifically on the covid-19 virus, the results have important implications for many medical conditions.
“We wanted to create a soft matter, nanoscale robot with capture functions never seen before to interact with cells, viruses and other molecules for biomedical applications,” Wang said at the university. statement. “We use DNA for its structural properties. It’s flexible and programmable. Even in the field of DNA origami, this is new in terms of design. We fold one long strand of DNA back and forth so that all elements, both static and moving, in one step.”
The NanoGripper has four attached fingers and a palm. The fingers are programmed to attach to specific targets, the infamous spike protein of the virus. According to the study, when the researchers exposed the cells to Covid-19 , hand-holding mechanisms prevented viral spike proteins from infecting cells.
“It would be very difficult to apply it after a person has been infected, but there is a way we can use it as a preventive therapeutic,” Wang explained. “We can make an antiviral nasal spray. The nose is the respiratory hot spot for viruses such as covid or flu. Nasal spray with NanoGripper can prevent inhalation viruses interaction with nasal cells.”
The arm is also coated with a unique sensor that detects COVID-19 in 30 minutes with the accuracy of the now-familiar qPCR molecular tests used in hospitals.
“When the virus is held in the hand of the NanoGripper, the fluorescent molecule is triggered to emit light when illuminated by an LED or laser,” said one of Wang’s colleagues in the study, Brian Cunningham, also of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign large number of fluorescent molecules focus on a single virus, it becomes bright enough in our detection system to count each virus individually for”.
Like a true Swiss army knife, scientists can modify the NanoGripper to potentially detect and capture other viruses, including HIV, influenza or hepatitis B, as detailed in the study attach another biomedical tool for additional functions such as targeted drug delivery.
Wang, however, is thinking bigger than viruses—cancer. The fingers can be programmed to target cancer cells, the way they currently identify the spike proteins of Covid-19, and then deliver targeted cancer-fighting treatments.
“Of course, this will require a lot of testing, but the potential applications in cancer treatment and the sensitivity achieved for diagnostic applications demonstrate the power of soft nanorobotics,” Wang concluded.
Here’s hoping that NanoGrippers can give scientists a chance to catch the next pandemic with nanorods.
