Self-assembly of a DNA-carbon nanotube hybrid

[gammaray0wn]

I wonder if this is some of the reason for the observed genotoxicity of nanotubes...

[Crow014]

This is why care must be taken when introducing nanomaterials into natural systems. Implications like this are fairly common.

[dmix09]

amazing! what are the implications? if any.

[nanobob97]

This is a simulation of 20 ns of the dynamics of single stranded DNA and a carbon nanotube in aqueous solution. The simulation took several days to compute in "real time". But yes, this is what would occur over a 20 ns timescale at the molecular level. The program GROMACS was used to compute the trajectory and the program VMD was used for the visualization.

[sootica21]

Thanks so much! I particularly liked the way the bases (purines?) flattened to lie against the NT surface.

[sootica21]

Hey- I'm pretty impressed by this simulation; does it genuinely last only 20ns? Do you mind my asking what program you used to write this? Thanks!

[2giveup]

sure why not screw up everyones dna on a monatomic level great you guuys dont even know how these react to certian gases and the tech to check is not sufficent..be careful mother nature will bite back..

[SubwayatNight]

I agree 2giveup! Why not leave well enough alone? I'm fine with getting a cold once in a while if it means not being turned into a rabid zombie killer like the ones in "I am Legend." Wil Smith won't always be there to bail us out.

Ha! Just kidding! Good job Bob. I'm impressed with your work. As usual.

[hyperthreaded]

Is this an actual simulation or just an ordinary computer animation?

[nanobob97]

This is a visualization of a molecular dynamics simulation. The actual simulation lasted 20 ns.

[hyperthreaded]

I see. Thanks.

[lemill00]

Wow...enough said.