Editing Nanorobotics (section)

{{short description|Emerging technology field}}
{{redirect|Nanobots|the They Might Be Giants album|Nanobots (album)}}

[[Image:Kinesin_walking.gif|thumb|300px| [[Kinesin]]  uses [[protein domain dynamics]] on [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]]s to walk along a [[microtubule]].]]

{{Nanotechnology}}

'''Nanoid robotics''', or for short, '''nanorobotics''' or '''nanobotics''', is an [[emerging technology]] field creating machines or [[robot]]s, which are called '''nanorobots''' or simply '''nanobots''', whose components are at or near the scale of a [[nanometer]] (10<sup>−9</sup> meters).<ref>{{cite journal |author= Vaughn JR |title= Over the Horizon: Potential Impact of Emerging Trends in Information and Communication Technology on Disability Policy and Practice |journal=National Council on Disability, Washington DC |pages=1–55 |date=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Ghosh, A.|author2= Fischer, P. |title= Controlled Propulsion of Artificial Magnetic Nanostructured Propellers |journal= Nano Letters |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=2243–2245 |date=2009 |doi=10.1021/nl900186w |pmid= 19413293|bibcode= 2009NanoL...9.2243G}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Sierra, D. P.|author2= Weir, N. A.|author3= Jones, J. F. |title= A review of research in the field of nanorobotics |journal=U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Scientific and Technical Information Oak Ridge, TN |volume=SAND2005-6808 |pages=1–50 |date=2005 |doi=10.2172/875622|osti= 875622|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc878292/m2/1/high_res_d/875622.pdf }}</ref> More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to [[microrobotics]]) refers to the [[nanotechnology]] engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots with devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 [[micrometre]]s and constructed of [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] or [[molecular]] components.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Tarakanov, A. O.|author2= Goncharova, L. B.|author3= Tarakanov Y. A. |title= Carbon nanotubes towards medicinal biochips |journal= Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |date=2009 |doi=10.1002/wnan.69|pmid= 20049826}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Ignatyev, M. B. |title= Necessary and sufficient conditions of nanorobot synthesis |journal= Doklady Mathematics |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=671–675 |date=2010 |doi=10.1134/S1064562410040435|s2cid= 121955001 }}</ref> The terms ''nanobot'', ''nanoid'', ''nanite'', ''nanomachine'' and ''nanomite'' have also been used to describe such devices currently under research and development.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Cerofolini, G.|author2= Amato, P.|author3= Asserini, M.|author4= Mauri, G. |title= A Surveillance System for Early-Stage Diagnosis of Endogenous Diseases by Swarms of Nanobots |journal= Advanced Science Letters |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=345–352 |date=2010 |doi=10.1166/asl.2010.1138}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Yarin, A. L. |title= Nanofibers, nanofluidics, nanoparticles and nanobots for drug and protein delivery systems |journal= Scientia Pharmaceutica Central European Symposium on Pharmaceutical Technology |volume=78 |pages=542 |date=2010 |doi=10.3797/scipharm.cespt.8.L02 |issue= 3|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Nanomachine]]s are largely in the [[research and development]] phase,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wang, J. |title=Can Man-Made Nanomachines Compete with Nature Biomotors? |journal= ACS Nano |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=4–9 |date=2009 |doi=10.1021/nn800829k |pmid=19206241}}</ref> but some primitive [[molecular machine]]s and [[nanomotor]]s have been tested. An example is a sensor having a switch approximately 1.5 nanometers across, able to count specific molecules in the chemical sample. The first useful applications of nanomachines may be in [[nanomedicine]]. For example,<ref>{{Cite journal |doi= 10.1002/ange.200905200 |title= Targeted Optimization of a Protein Nanomachine for Operation in Biohybrid Devices |journal= Angewandte Chemie |volume= 122 |issue= 2 |pages= 322–326 |year= 2010 |last1= Amrute-Nayak |first1= M. |last2= Diensthuber |first2= R. P. |last3= Steffen |first3= W. |last4= Kathmann |first4= D. |last5= Hartmann |first5= F. K. |last6= Fedorov |first6= R. |last7= Urbanke |first7= C. |last8= Manstein |first8= D. J. |last9= Brenner |first9= B. |last10= Tsiavaliaris |first10= G.|pmid= 19921669 |bibcode= 2010AngCh.122..322A }}</ref> [[biological machine]]s could be used to identify and destroy cancer cells.<ref name=patel>{{Cite journal |doi= 10.1080/10611860600612862 |title= Nanorobot: A versatile tool in nanomedicine |journal= Journal of Drug Targeting |volume= 14 |issue= 2 |pages= 63–67 |year= 2006 |last1= Patel |first1= G. M. |last2= Patel |first2= G. C. |last3= Patel |first3= R. B. |last4= Patel |first4= J. K. |last5= Patel |first5= M. |pmid=16608733|s2cid= 25551052 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi= 10.1002/anie.201100115 |title= Micromachine-Enabled Capture and Isolation of Cancer Cells in Complex Media |journal= Angewandte Chemie International Edition |volume= 50 |issue= 18 |pages= 4161–4164 |year= 2011 |last1= Balasubramanian |first1= S. |last2= Kagan |first2= D. |last3= Jack Hu |first3= C. M. |last4= Campuzano |first4= S. |last5= Lobo-Castañon |first5= M. J. |last6= Lim |first6= N. |last7= Kang |first7= D. Y. |last8= Zimmerman |first8= M. |last9= Zhang |first9= L. |last10= Wang |first10= J. |pmid=21472835 |pmc=3119711}}</ref> Another potential application is the detection of toxic chemicals, and the measurement of their concentrations, in the environment. [[Rice University]] has demonstrated a [[Nanocar|single-molecule car]] developed by a chemical process and including [[Buckminsterfullerene]]s (buckyballs) for wheels. It is actuated by controlling the environmental temperature and by positioning a [[scanning tunneling microscope]] tip.

Another definition<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Langer|first1=Robert|title=Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering: From Discovery to Applications|pmc=2935937|pmid=20726522|doi=10.1021/nl102184c|volume=10|issue=9|journal=Nano Lett|pages=3223–30|bibcode=2010NanoL..10.3223S|year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Callaway DJ, Nicholl ID, Shi B, Reyes G, Farago B, Bu Z| title =Nanoscale dynamics of the cadherin-catenin complex bound to vinculin revealed by neutron spin echo spectroscopy  | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 129 | issue = 39|  date =2024  | pmid =39298480 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.2408459121 | url = https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2408459121| doi-access = free | pmc = 11441495}}</ref><ref>Ehud Gazit, Plenty of room for biology at the bottom: An introduction to bionanotechnology. Imperial College Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-86094-677-6}}</ref> is a robot that allows precise interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] resolution. Such devices are more related to [[microscopy]] or [[scanning probe microscopy]], instead of the description of nanorobots as [[molecular machines]]. Using the microscopy definition, even a large apparatus such as an [[atomic force microscope]] can be considered a nanorobotic instrument when configured to perform nanomanipulation. For this viewpoint, macroscale robots or microrobots that can move with nanoscale precision can also be considered nanorobots.



[[Image:Protein translation.gif|thumb|300px| A [[ribosome]] is a [[biological machine]].  [[Protein domain dynamics]] can now be seen by [[neutron spin echo]] spectroscopy]]