Sergey M. Deyev, UNN Professor of Biophysics, develops nanoparticle biocomputing and logic-gated nanorobots

Sergey M. Deyev, member of the Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences and professor at UNN Department of Biophysics, together with his colleagues, has discovered a mechanism for biocomputing of nanoparticles to be used to create robotic devices, which are expected to be new treatment methods in the immediate future.

The article published in Nature Nanotechnology, a monthly scientific journal, says: “Nanoparticles have a variety of intrinsic features that are not available in molecules (for example, controllability by magnetic fields, size-tunable photoemission, and photoluminescence based on energy transfer upconversion) and have significant potential in biomedical applications. By adding biocomputing capabilities to such materials, their behaviour could be placed under logic control, and robotic devices could be created to take advantage of these attractive intrinsic features. To meet these ends, logic-gated nanorobots have been developed that can carry small payloads and target cells.”

DNA/RNA-based computing techniques used to analyse cells and deliver molecular payloads have a more limited range of applications.

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