Advances in Designer DNA Nanorobots Enabling Programmable Functions

• Published in: Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology Vol. 23; no. 18; pp. e202200119 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Meixia, Li, Xiaoxiao, He, Fang, Li, Juan, Wang, Hong‐Hui, Nie, Zhou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 16.09.2022
• Subjects: Actuation; Biology; Biomedical materials; Biosensors; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA nanotechnology; DNA strand displacement reaction; DNA walker; Drug delivery; Medicine; nanorobotics; Nanotechnology; Precision medicine; Robotics; targeted drug delivery; DNA nanotechnology; targeted drug delivery; nanorobotics; DNA walker; DNA strand displacement reaction
• ISSN: 1439-4227; 1439-7633
• DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202200119

The advent of DNA nanotechnology has paved the way for the development of nanoscale robotics capable of executing smart and sophisticated tasks in a programmed and automatic manner. The programmability and customizable functionality of designer DNA nanorobots interfacing with biology would offer great potential for basic and applied research in the interdisciplinary fields of chemistry, biology, and medicine. This review aims to summarize the latest progress in designer DNA nanorobotics enabling programmable functions. We first describe the state‐of‐art engineering principles and the functional modules used in the rational design of a dynamic DNA nanorobot. Subsequently, we summarize the distinct types of DNA nanorobots performing sensing tasks, sensing‐and‐actuation, or continuous actuation, highlighting the versatility of designer DNA nanorobots in accurate biosensing, targeted drug delivery, and autonomous molecular operations to promote desired cellular behavior. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development of functional DNA nanorobotics for biomedical applications. We envision that significant progress in DNA‐enabled nanorobotics with programmable functions will improve precision medicine in the future. DNA‐enabled nanorobotics: DNA nanotechnology advances the development of the rational design of DNA nanorobots capable of executing programmable functions. Integrating the sensory, controller, and actuation modules, distinct types of designer DNA nanorobots can automatically perform various mechanical motions (one‐step, multi‐step, or continuously stepping) in response to certain stimuli, realizing versatile functionalities in accurate biosensing, targeted drug delivery, even autonomous operations to trigger desired cellular behavior.