Molecular Manufacturing
A machine built out of DNA

Context: Deep in every cell, miniature biological machines called ribosomes forge proteins. Following instructions written in our genetic code, ribosomes weld together amino acids to form the enzymes that modulate body chemistry and the structural materials, like collagen, that hold the body together. As good as engineers are at building machines and structures on the scale of people, they have few tools for building on the scale of molecules, as a ribosome does.

Researchers from New York University have taken a landmark step toward the goal of imitating the ribosome, building a programmable, nanoscale machine that can weld together DNA molecules.