MICRO PROTEIN MACHINES

Ever wondered what cool sciencey stuff they are teaching undergraduates at the University of Queensland?
 Every school day I will post my newly learned cool fact... Enjoy

01/03/2013

NANOTECHNOLOGY

MICRO PROTEIN MACHINES

In the last decade, scientists have explored the inner working of a cell like never before.

The power of electron microscopes and the development of sophisticated separation systems, have allowed us to see into the molecular network of not only cells, but the instruments of how they work.

One of the most significant discoveries was how proteins are utilised to carry information around the cell.

 

Proteins are extremely large molecules, sometimes many hundreds of atoms long

Interestingly, a series of proteins that have been discovered have been described as being "micro protein machines".

The amazing thing about these macro molecules are that when they are activated by ATP (the energy carrying molecule of the cell), they act just like mini machines.

There are some that act like pumps

There are some that act like scaffold

There are some that act like crawlers

There are some that act like electronic conduits

These amazing molecules are integral to the signalling and moving structures within cells.

They fascinate biologists and will be under study as you read this page.

Check it out here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_berry_animations_of_unseeable_biology.html

But these mini machines have not escaped the attention of nanotechnology research scientists either.

As the electronic and information processing world gets smaller and more sophisticated, scientists are constantly looking for inspiration as to how to create systems that act in a micro world how systems act in the macro environment.

It is perhaps the greatest thing about science that our engineers use the beauty of our own natural world as inspiration for human technological feats.