DNA Makes Lifeless Materials Shapeshift

sciencehabit writes: Researchers have engineered tiny gold particles that can assemble into a variety of crystalline structures simply by adding a bit of DNA to the solution that surrounds them. Down the road, such reprogrammable particles could be used to make materials that reshape themselves in response to light, or to create novel catalysts that reshape themselves as reactions proceed.

Democrats will use this for evil

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what they do. What they do.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, what a good post. Please mod parent up

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[Anonymous Coward]

"Athiesm"

Gesundheit! That *was* a sneeze, yes?

I, for one,

[Culture20]

I, for one, welcome our new technorganic Phalanx overlords and look forward to joining the glorious union of the Babel Spire.

Battlezone

[pcjunky]

Great shades of bio-metal.

Odo

[rossdee]

So how is Rene Auberjenois doing these days

dotr

[Hylandr]

Dawn of the Replicants!

hey, this may pan out to something interesting

[swell]

Goddammit this is important shit. Fundamental research can sometimes be even more important than an update to your linux software or the Kardashian news of the day. ...Or not...

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[Lennie]

Lots of people may say: Apple is so cool they invented the iPhone, bla, bla.

But the iPhone wouldn't have happened without the fundamental research which was paid for by the government.

I know companies call their department sometimes research & development, but sometimes you'd think it's just development.

DNA is not eternal

[ITRambo]

What happens to the shapes when the DNA disintegrates? I presume that real organic DNA is being used here and that its removal leads to a return to chaos for the gold particles.

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[Gilgaron]

A reshaping catalyst wouldn't need to last longer than the length of the reaction anyhow. Although depending on how fancy they can be maybe you could intentionally build something that still functions after the scaffolding 'rots' off.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion