DNA
DNA within our bodies naturally breaks down, replicates itself, and rebuilds itself every time a cell divides. These processes are all controlled and completed by various enzymes. DNA molecules are composed of corresponding base pair nucleotides in a double-helix formation, which makes these processes very efficient, accurate, and predictable. Due to the ease with which DNA molecules can be fashioned, many publications in the academic society are geared towards creating nanostructures using DNA. With a DNA-based nano-device, synthetic proteins could be created, designed to deactivate a nano-device. These synthetic proteins would be injected into the body to break down the DNA and render a nano-device harmless in the event of a malfunction.
Biological proteins within the human body serve three main functions: they are structural building blocks, enzymes, and facilitate cellular signaling. Synthetic proteins could be developed as a form of indicator and attached to a DNA-based nano-device. This indicator would then be used for the purpose of monitoring nano-devices in the human body. If all DNA-based nano-devices were closely monitored in the human body, they could be controlled quickly in the event of a malfunction.
Read more about this topic: Fail-safes In Nanotechnology
Famous quotes containing the word dna:
“Here [in London, history] ... seemed the very fabric of things, as if the city were a single growth of stone and brick, uncounted strata of message and meaning, age upon age, generated over the centuries to the dictates of some now all-but-unreadable DNA of commerce and empire.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)