As nanomachine design rapidly advances, researchers are
moving from wondering if the nanomachine works to how long it will work. This
is an especially important question as there are so many potential
applications, for instance, for medical uses, including drug delivery, early
diagnosis, disease monitoring, instrumentation, and surgery. In a new study led
by Henry Hess, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia
Engineering, researchers observed a molecular shuttle powered by kinesin motor
proteins and found it to degrade when operating, marking the first time, they
say, that degradation has been studied in detail in an active, autonomous
nanomachine.