The design of DNA-based robots and other nanodevices for medical and manufacturing applications can be accelerated with a new computer-aided engineering and design tool developed at Ohio State University. The MagicDNA software shrinks the design window from days to minutes and supports the synthesis of increasingly complex devices.

This technology was previously limited to the construction of nanodevices with six components connected by joints and hinges to perform complex motions. Nano-robots and other designs can now be realized with 20 or more components and featuring streamlined control mechanisms.

The researchers demonstrated the software in the development of complex nanosystems such as robot arms equipped with claws to grasp smaller objects, and a 100 nm-size structure resembling an airplane and shown in the video above.

A robot arm nanodevice with claw that can pick up smaller objects. Source: Ohio State University

The design tool could be used to fabricate devices that deliver drugs inside the human body, detect the presence of blood-borne pathogens and manufacture increasingly smaller electronics.

A paper on this development is published in Nature Materials.