technologyreview.com: By Duncan Graham-Rowe

Devices that self-assemble from biological molecules could represent the future of drug delivery.

Scientists in California have created molecular computers that are able to self-assemble out of strips of RNA within living cells. Eventually, such computers could be programmed to manipulate biological functions within the cell, executing different tasks under different conditions. One application could be smart drug delivery systems, says Christina Smolke, who carried out the research with Maung Nyan Win and whose results are published in the latest issue of Science. [ read more ]