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Protein nanomachines: a quick introduction

Those of us needing a quick intro to the topic of protein nanomachines can check out Michael Strong's summary in PLoS Biology: "The work of Yan et al. (2003) has opened up exciting new avenues in the field of nanotechnology and has provided the molecular framework for the construction of dynamic protein-based assemblies. It is foreseeable that variations of these same DNA scaffolds will eventually be used for the design and construction of more complex protein-based assemblies, such as nanoscale ìassembly linesî or periodic arrays of dynamic motor proteins." Unfortunately, though the first two references are available free online, the links in the article do not lead to free versions (try Google).

2 Responses to “Protein nanomachines: a quick introduction”

  1. RobertBradbury Says:

    Links to abstracts

    Some of the references are online:
    1. Drexler KE (1981).
    2. Drexler KE (1986).
    One can also get to the abstracts for some of the references:
    5. Han J et al (1997).
    6. Seeman NC (2003).
    7. Soong RK et al (2000).
    8. Yan H et al (2003).

    It appears that one can access the Science articles [#7 & #8] (from the PubMed abstracts) that are over a year (6 months?) old without being an AAAS member/Science subscriber if you sign up with them for "public access".

  2. Anonymous Coward Says:

    Wouldn't ATP synthase need large mods?

    ATP synthase, as discussed in the referred article, sits in membranes and works with the protein gradient, right? Shouldn't it be hard to use that protein complex in other places than in membranes with a [H+] difference?

    Then, how much support from a prokaryote would be needed to keep those proteins (and membranes) working for a long time? Proteins in cells are torn down and rebuilt quite often.

    Wouldn't it need large modifications for practical use? The "simple" application should be to do it with modified variants in bacteria?

    Why not go to a "Unix tool philosophy" with bacteria, modifiying them to be simpler and do just a few specific jobs? Lay down bacteria in a matrix (simpler problem) and maybe even "pipe" stuff between them.

    (I'm not arguing, I'm asking; don't know enough about the subject to have hard opinions.)

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