The reaction uses and produces no toxic chemicals and takes place at room temperature and room pressure; no elaborate set-up is needed. The wires maintain their properties for three months. Simple as it may be, the research could one day be used as a new way to see inside the body using either X-rays or other imaging techniques. The metal-coated DNA could be injected into the blood stream and would congregate in tumors or damaged areas. Since the molecules are made of electrically conductive metal, they would show up in an X-ray or other electromagnetic diagnostic scan. It could also be used to create tiny circuit boards and computers or anything that uses electricity. As Sri Sridhar, a professor of physics at Northeastern University, points out, researchers are borrowing tricks from Mother Nature. "It's a very hot thing right now," said Sridhar. "While DNA is the basis of life, we are not using those properties," he said. Instead, researchers are "taking the tricks that evolution developed as a basis for a new type of electronics that is DNA-based."
Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech? |
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