El robot tiene 10 nanómetros de largo y dos patitas: piernecitas de ADN. Y se mueve sobre un senderito también de ADN.
Each leg of the biped is made from two strands of DNA paired up as a double helix. These legs are connected by flexible «linker» strands of DNA.
Each leg of the biped has a portion at its end which is single-stranded. The scientists refer to this as a foot, and it is available to pair up with a complementary DNA strand.
Likewise, each domain in the track has a single stranded region that can pair with a complementary strand. The single strands on the foot and footpath are designed so that they should not generally pair up.
The researchers have to add a strand, called a set strand, that is complementary to both to make the foot attach to the foothold.
To make the walker take a step, the researchers then add another DNA strand called an unset strand to release the foot.
After this, the released foot grabs another set strand and the process can be repeated.
(vía die puny humans)
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