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Algae Can Carry Cargo

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the dont-put-the-cart-before-the-single-celled-organism dept.

Steve Nixon writes "Recently, a team of scientists devised a way to make single-celled algae bear loads over distances of several centimeters--a tactic that the researchers say could prove useful in tiny machines. Algae and other single-celled organisms power their movements with molecular motors. 'Scientists have long coveted these motors for use in micromachinery,' notes chemist Douglas B. Weibel of Harvard University.

4 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Interview by Horizon_99 · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is an interview with chemist George Whitesides, one of the authors of the paper in question, at sciencefriday.com for those interested.

  2. This was on Science Friday by FlynnMP3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Dowload the show http://www.sciencefriday.com/ or the podcast on date 8-19 with George Whitesides. He is the administrative lead of the project and he talks about other interesting things besides Algae toting around loads.

    -FlynnMP3

  3. Re:Wanted: a few billion algae to help me move by w98 · · Score: 2, Informative
    we knew to hang on to the only one that ever said yes

    Top Reasons to Date a Geek

    --
    my geeklog
  4. Some of you have missed the point entirely by gt384u · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's not a matter of "Gee, what is this good for?" If you explore more of Whitesides' research, a lot of his work is very much in the realm of 'proof-of-concept'. I've had the pleasure to hear him speak before on his research in self-assembly and it's astounding what some of the systems his students have devised can do. Check his research out here. The one project that astounded me in particular was self-assembly of functioning electronic devices using nothing but hydrophobic interactions. Wickedly cool.

    To be honest, this particular piece of research is almost a footnote in his career. Most of the things he does will never end up in something the average person ever comes into contact with, but the salient ideas will change the landscape of technology 20 years down the road. If you're at all interested in nanoscience, this is a guy to watch.