Physicist develops natural motor technique

The researchers say the technique could lead to new methods of drug delivery, disease treatment and bioengineering, the university said in a release.

Their findings were published in the online edition of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.

Physicists Yiping Zhao, Yuping He and Jinsong Wu said the catalytic nanomotors are naturally occurring power sources for nanometer-scale machines, which are powered by chemical reactions, the university said.

The new technique involves a simple modification of existing methods that allows for greater flexibility in designing desired nanomotor structures.

Zhao and team said the tiny machines could one day be the tools to open constricted or clogged blood vessels too small for conventional stents, or deliver drugs through the cell wall of an organism.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International