New Membrane Pores With DNA Nanotechnology

     Scientists at UCL have developed a new type of nanotechnology that greatly stremlines the process of creating artificial pores on cell membranes. Due to the lipid composition of human cell membranes, previous pore-creation technologies have struggled with anchoring their artificial "nanopores" to the cell. This new approach from UCL uses a type of molecule with an affinity for fats, allowing the artificial pores to be anchored in only two places. This represents a drastic improvement over earlier attempts at pore-creation.

     This article piqued my interest as it makes heavy use of synthetic biology and genetics. These DNA tubes are extremely exciting for the future of medicine, allowing drugs to be directly injected into specific cells. This bodes particularly well for the treatment of tumors and cancers, allowing drugs to specifically target malicious cells while sparing benign cells. Nanotechnology and its impact on medicine is fascinating and the surface is just being scratched.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131104123737.htm
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100920/full/news.2010.482.html