Thursday, December 05, 2013

DNA Nanobots Could Deliver the Future of Medicine

Built from molecules, this “DNA Nanocage” (sounds cool because it is) was designed by researchers, but self-assembled from the human “body’s own molecules.” The hope, while far off, is that the Nanocages could be ingestible in pill form, containing medicine to effectively trap diseases or cancers at the molecular level.

Mashable spoke to Biomedical Engineering Post Doctoral Associate Sissel Juul, Ph.D., about how the DNA Nanocage works and why it matters. He has been working on this project at Duke University since 2008. Juul told us that DNA structures are not new and are based on the core principles of DNA binding. DNA has four bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (g) and thymine (T). Each base naturally pairs with a certain other base (always in pairs; A with T and C with G). “So the sequence of the DNA, which molecule comes after which molecule, will tell us how it will assemble,” said Juul.

As for what’s next, Juul doesn’t think the idea of a pill full of these things to deliver targeted medicine is all that far-fetched. “There are a lot of drug delivery mechanisms, [but] making a pill is most desirable. You don't have to open anything except your mouth."

Near-term, however, they’re working on attaching something else to the DNA cage. “Some cancer cells have specific receptors that recognize a specific molecule. So if you can add that to the cage, only the cancer cell would take it up.”

In essence, it’s the nano-sized version of the Trojan horse. The cancer cell sees an attractive molecule riding on friendly human DNA, having no idea that inside that DNA latticework is a drug that can wipe it out.

Juul believes “we will see commercial targeted non-viral drug delivery soon.” And when is that? “The question is whether a DNA based vehicle will win the ‘race’ over other nanorobots,” wrote Juul in an email. “I can't really give you a specific timeframe —sorry. It is also a matter of clinical trials and FDA approvals, which tend to take a really long time. So even if the technology is there, it might take a while.”

More details on the study can be found here.

Source: http://mashable.com/2013/12/04/researchers-build-dna-nanocage/

Monday, December 02, 2013

Amazon: drones as delivery vehicles

Jeff Bezos: These generations of vehicles, it could be a 10-mile radius from a fulfillment center. So, in urban areas, you could actually cover very significant portions of the population. And so, it won’t work for everything; you know, we’re not gonna deliver kayaks or table saws this way. These are electric motors, so this is all electric; it’s very green, it’s better than driving trucks around. This is…this is all an R&D project.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/

Jeff Bezos: I think, I, I am, I’m an optimist Charlie. I know it can’t be before 2015, because that’s the earliest we could get the rules from the FAA. My guess is that’s, that’s probably a little optimistic. But could it be, you know, four, five years? I think so. It will work, and it will happen, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

In Sweden, 100 driverless cars to take to the streets


In conjunction with Swedish officials, Volvo plans to send 100 autonomous cars out on to the streets of Gothenburg.

The Swedish automaker says that 100 autonomous vehicles will be piloted under the project name "Drive Me -- Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility." In 2017, the cars will drive approximately 30 miles around the streets of Gothenburg in a number of frequent driver conditions, including around residential areas, moving pedestrians, motorways and queues. The vehicles will also be expected to park themselves.

Volvo's pilot is meant to show how autonomous vehicles could improve road safety and transport efficiency, as well as research what changes to city infrastructure would be necessary to accommodate autonomous cars.

Working alongside the Swedish Transport Administration, The Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg, the now Chinese-owned firm will begin planning next year, starting with customer research and technological development.

Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/in-sweden-100-driverless-cars-to-take-to-the-streets/