Chemists at New York University have developed a device that allows for the translation of DNA sequences, thereby serving as a factory for assembling the building blocks of new materials. The invention, described in the latest issue of Science magazine, has the potential to develop new synthetic fibers, advance the encryption of information, and improve DNA-based computation. The device, developed by NYU Chemistry graduate student Shiping Liao and Professor Nadrian C. Seeman, emulates the process by which RNA replicas of DNA sequences are translated to create protein sequences. However, the signals that control the nanomechanical tool are DNA rather than RNA. The dimensions of the machine are approximately 110 x 30 x 2 nm.
