By KIM BELLARD
When I saw a headline about “DNA flowers,” I was taken aback. I mean: aren’t all flowers made of DNA, like all living things on our planet? Well, it turns out that DNA flowers are actually soft robots (i.e. nanobots), so that definitely piqued my interest.
The DNA flowers are outside the Freeman Laboratory at the University of North Carolina, led by Dr. Ronit Freeman, and research on them has just been published in Nanotechnology from nature with the least sexy title “Reversible metamorphosis of the hierarchical DNA organic crystal..” If I’d seen that before “DNA Flowers,” I probably would have overlooked it, so I’m glad someone has an eye on the marketing.
Designer Daniel Burham famously said, “Don’t make small plans,” and I think Dr. Freeman would like him. His bio says he has formal training in computer science, chemistry, nanotechnology, and regenerative medicine (plus some ballroom dancing, if we’re counting), and he probably needs all that training, because his primary interest is “supramolecular self-assembly, a field in which common biological materials such as DNA and proteins are considered not simply as information carriers, but also as tunable structural materials for next-door sensors.” generation, nanorobots, pharmacological advances and clinical tools.”
Consequently, what the lab has now done is combine DNA with inorganic materials to allow them to respond to their environment. Professor Freeman says: “We draw inspiration from nature’s designs, such as blooming flowers or growing fabrics, and translate them into technology that could one day think, move and adapt on its own.”
In fact, the Freman Laboratory prides itself on its “bio-inspired technologies,” the purpose of which is: “We design living and synthetic materials to accelerate healthier outcomes for global communities.” The website talks about “building block designs.” featuring hierarchical self-assembly, temporal structural reconfiguration, and adaptive behavior.
Hence DNA flourishes.
Flowers are actually shaped like flowers, although they are microscopic, and what makes them interesting and potentially useful is that the various strands of DNA allow them to move, open or close, or trigger chemical reactions, based on environmental signals such as temperature, acidity or chemical signals. DNA sequences guide the nanoparticles to organize into complex structures, which can reverse their shape as desired.
“People would love to have smart capsules that automatically activate medication when they detect an illness and stop it when it is cured. In principle, this could be possible with our shape-changing materials,” Professor Freeman said. “In the future, flowers could be designed that can be swallowed or implanted and that change shape to deliver a specific dose of medication, perform a biopsy, or remove a blood clot.”
Yes, I would love to and I bet you would too.
The team acknowledges that the technology is in the early stages, but sees a future in which, for example, a DNA flower is injected into a cancer patient, where it travels to a tumor, the acidity of which causes the petals to release a drug or even take a small tissue sample. When the tumor disappears, the DNA flower will be deactivated until new environmental triggers reactivate it.
Thinking beyond healthcare, the team sees their creations helping to clean up environmental pollution or as a great digital storage device: up to two trillion gigabytes in just a teaspoon.
The fact that DNA flowers can sense and respond to their environment makes the team believe this is a big step forward in bridging the gap between living systems and machines. We’ll see more of that in the rest of ’21.street century.
The Freeman laboratory has big ambitions. He wants to discover “new and creative means to detect viruses, treat diseases, target and deliver payloads effectively, and interact with natural biology.” Four key ways in which that objective is attacked are:
Sensation: “develop rapid testing technologies that are easy to use, location-independent, robust in design, and cost-effective for production”: “By recognizing, respecting, and studying natural mechanisms, we can mimic them to develop effective biotherapies and advance biomedical engineering.”
Biomimicry: “By recognizing, respecting and studying natural mechanisms, we can imitate them to develop effective biotherapies and advance biomedical engineering.”
Therapy: “This may involve administering an external drug, developing a safe and effective means of delivering that drug to the desired site, or developing a means to program natural biology to reverse the effects of a disease.”
soft matter: “Soft Matter is a general term for sciences related to topics ranging from textile materials to fluid mechanics, granular distribution, biological materials and much more.”
Everything is great, everyone thinking about a future different from the past, so congratulations to them. DNA flowers aren’t the first thing the Freeman Lab does and I’m pretty sure they won’t be the last. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
And you thought Bill Belichick went to UNC for football…
Kim is a former e-marketing executive at a major Blues scheme, publisher of the late and lamented Tincture.ioand now a regular THCB contributor
