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Science Forum Index » Nanotechnology Forum » Nano-Pore for DNA Sequencing
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| sanman |
 Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 6:33 pm |
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Although still under development, the nano-pore may eventually become
the means for quick and easy DNA sequencing:
http://www.nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/9/8/1
Gee, I wonder if one day nano-pores could be genetically engineered
into cellular/nuclear membranes, to allow the admission/expulsion of
entire chromosomes to/from the cell's nucleus?
When we talk about using nanotech for life-extension, I'm not sure
that nanobots will do it. I think we will have to look for some more
direct way to replace artificially-made chromosomes into each of the
body's cells, and to coordinate their takeover of
controlling/signalling activities.
We know that the informational integrity of DNA suffers degradation
over time, just like making a photocopy of a photocopy of a
photocopy...
So the key will be to take a person's DNA, digitize it, and then clean
it up to restore or improve its information content (analogous to
digital airbrushing). Then we have to turn it back from digital into
molecular form, and then somehow get it back into each and every one
of the body's relevant cells. Then we would have to get our new DNA to
take over from the old DNA in a synchronized fashion.
So really, it's the last couple of steps that are the biggest problem.
Anyone have any ideas on how to reliably insert artificial chromosomes
into a vast number of cells and have them take over in a coordinated
manner? What kinds of nano-tricks could be used? |
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| Robert J. Bradbury |
| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2003 4:32 pm |
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sanman wrote:
The nano-pore sequencing idea has been around since the mid-'90's. If
it were an easy problem to solve I suspect it would have been solved by now.
So I wouldn't hold my breath.
Quote: Anyone have any ideas on how to reliably insert artificial chromosomes
into a vast number of cells and have them take over in a coordinated
manner? What kinds of nano-tricks could be used?
If you read between the lines in Nanomedicine and a couple of the papers
that
Robert Freitas has authored one can see that chromosome replacement is
feasible. Robert will be publishing a paper, probably sometime over the
next
year, about "chromallocytes", which are nanorobots designed to perform
chromosome replacement operations.
Robert |
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