ITMO: DNK-DNK-nanorobot

2020: A concept of the nanorobot fighter with cancer

On January 28, 2020 it became known that the group of researchers of the ITMO University offered the concept of drug against oncological diseases. The nanorobot created from DNA fragments in the theory will be able not only to destroy cancer cells, but also at the same time to distinguish them on all organism. Work of scientists is published in the Chemistry magazine – A European journal.

As it was reported, creation of effective medicines for fight against oncological diseases which at the same time would not cause heavy ghost effects, for January, 2020 is one of the most important tasks for chemists, druggists and biologists. Scientists lay great hopes on the gene therapy directed to fight against those mutations which arise in cells of the person.

DNA is a basis of a cage, it contains genetic information which is necessary to code the proteins vital for existence of a cage. When the cage becomes cancer, it has a failure in a genome then it begins to synthesize "bad" proteins – not those which are necessary to our organism. As a result of a cage begin to be multiplied uncontrolledly, not to stop this process – tumoral weight increases and increases. Ekaterina Goncharova, the coauthor of a research, the employee of the ITMO University told

If to stop process of development of the proteins connected with a disease, then cancer cells will not be able to share and will begin to die off. The DNA enzymes which are called dezoksiribozima can split under certain conditions communications in the RNA coding pathogenic proteins. Scientists also decided to use this property – they created on the basis of the dezoksiribozim of so-called nanorobots which are artificially synthesized in laboratory.

Ours DNK-nanorobot consists of two parts: detektsionny and therapeutic. A therapeutic part cuts pathogenic RNA: the more we cut it, the protein which bears harm is produced less. The second part of our robot allows to detect the struck cages – in the presence the "wrong" RNA in a cage our substance connects with oligonukleotidy which is artificially entered into a cage, splits it, at the same time there is a fluorescent luminescence. Ekaterina Goncharova, the coauthor of a research, the employee of the ITMO University told

One more potential benefit of the offered concept is the price. Creation of such nanorobot even in vitro costs only about 1000 - 1500 rubles.

For January, 2020 experiments in chemically created environments on a model gene of KRAS which at the majority of oncological diseases serves as the "molecular switch" activating growth of cages are made. The nanorobot could split and also detect the RNA responsible for synthesis of pathogenic proteins. Ahead experiments on living cells and, potentially, on animals. One of important problems which scientists should solve consists in how to deliver the nanorobot to the struck cages. Works on nano-containers for address delivery of medicines for January, 2020 time are actively conducted in different laboratories, including on the ITMO University platform.