To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Researchers Develop Liquid Form Of DNA
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 12:47:38 -0500

Source: University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill (http://www.unc.edu/)

Date: Posted 1/19/2001

Researchers Develop Liquid Form Of DNA

CHAPEL HILL -- For the first time, scientists at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill have successfully created a liquid form of DNA, the
complex helical molecule that serves as the blueprint for development and
growth of all living things. Because the research is so novel, the chemists
cannot predict with certainty what practical applications their work will
have. They believe, however, that liquid DNA will prove useful both in
understanding DNA better and in improving genetic engineering and
microelectronic circuitry.
A paper describing the experiments appears in the current issue of the
Journal of the American Chemical Society. Authors are graduate students
Anthony M. Leone, Stephanie C. Weatherly and Mary Elizabeth Williams and
Drs. H. Holden Thorp, professor of chemistry, and Royce W. Murray, Kenan
professor of chemistry, all at UNC-CH.

"In the laboratory, DNA is usually in a dilute solution of water to be
studied or as a crystalline solid that we really can't do anything with,"
said Thorp. "Now, we have figured out how to make it in a liquid form so
that we and others will be able to process it in various new ways. We've
also put it on top of microelectronic circuits and can run electricity
through it."

Physically, the new molten salt form of DNA is less like water and more like
molasses in January or "honey in wintertime Vermont," Murray said. The
material they worked with originated in herring fish.

The team succeed in liquifying the DNA by combining negatively charged
DNA
crystals with positively charged molten metal complexes containing ethylene
oxide tails. Murray, his colleagues and students have employed that
molecular trick successfully over the past decade with a variety of other
substances.

"There's been a lot of discussion about using DNA to make circuits because
it has a built-in ability to recognize complementary sequences of itself,"
Thorp said. "What has not been clear is how to get DNA on little bits and
pieces of material. Since now it's in a thick liquid and is
electrochemically active, you can begin to imagine ways to deposit it on
tiny surfaces."

A next step will be to determine how the DNA structure affects electrical
and macroscopic properties of the liquid, he said. So far, he and the others
have only used very long DNA in its double helical form, but plan to
determine what will happen if they make the molecules shorter or change
their shape.

They also would like to figure out how different DNA sequences can provide
different electrical signals. That knowledge could enable them or others to
create novel circuits capable of storing and moving electronic information.

Ironically, the idea for conducting the complex experiments grew out of
discussions that took place during a doctoral student's oral examination,
Murray said. Leone adopted the idea for part of his thesis, and the research
proved successful almost immediately.

"For the first time, we were able to observe how the DNA affected current
flow during oxidation and how the DNA was oxidized in a process known as
mediated electrocatalysis," Murray said. "That process is a well-known
phenomenon in fluids, but it's never been observed before in a biological
molecule like DNA in a semi-solid environment."

Another characteristic of the liquid DNA that might become even more
important than the electrochemistry is that it is soluble in a variety of
solvents in which ordinary DNA is not, he said.

"That opens the way for scientific studies of DNA in organic solvents and
how it interacts with other molecules," Murray said. "We probably won't
pursue this ourselves, but we felt it was potentially important enough that
we filed a patent disclosure on it."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University
Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill for journalists and other members of the
public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit
University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill as the original source. You may
also wish to include the following link in any citation:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010118064934.htm

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Scientists make cells immortal
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 12:48:30 -0500

Scientists make cells immortal

Scientists have discovered a way of making cells immortal.

A type of rat cell seems to go on forever if it is given a better type of
food than occurs naturally.

If the process works in human cells, they say the discovery could lead to
replacement limbs being grown to order.

Dean Tang, formerly of University College London, said of his discovery:
"The cells have a much greater capacity to grow than anyone imagined."

The New Scientist reports that cells taken from a severed arm could be used
to grown a new one.

Cell biologist at the University of Texas, Woodring Wright is excited at the
find.

He said: "There may be no fundamental obstacles to tissue engineering with
normal human cells."

Last updated: 14:34 Friday 19th January 2001

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_179108.html

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Furniture replaced by shape-shifting robots
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 12:49:25 -0500

Furniture replaced by shape-shifting robots

Smart robots that change shape could transform the home of the future,
scientists claim.

The team from New Hampshire are developing machines made up of identical
blocks that change shape to become anything from a couch to a vacuum
cleaner.

They say these smart machines consisting of microscopic components will
replace single-function tools.

According to the BBC, the blocks can grow or shrink on demand and can
communicate and link up with other similar units.

Lead researcher Professor Daniela Rus from Dartmough College in New
Hampshire said: "Fixed-architecture robots are too limited.

"If you have modular robots, you could have them living in the world with
you and you could make them change into whatever you need, when you
need
it."

Last updated: 13:08 Friday 19th January 2001

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_179084.html

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