5 Hybrid bionanotechnological devices
Bionanotechnology exploits the fact that evolution has led to very powerful and efficient nanomachines. We can now, for example, separate out a cell's components and, to some extent, run them outside a living cell. This hybrid device, developed by Carlo Montemagno of the University of California at Los Angeles and Harold Craighead from Cornell University, consists of an array of nickel posts (a), each of which has a height of 200 nm and a diameter 80 nm. Mounted on each post is a biological rotary molecular motor (b). A nanopropeller (c) - of length 750-1400 nm and diameter 150 nm - has been attached to the rotor of each motor. Addition of "ATP" fuel to the complete device (d) makes the propeller rotate. From R K Soong et al. 2000 Science 290 1555-1558