CHAPEL HILL, NC – Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, led by Associate Professor Ronit Freeman, have pioneered a revolutionary soft robotics technology: flower-shaped structures made from DNA-inorganic crystals that can be programmed to change shape in response to environmental cues.  

Fast to produce and control by the sequence and length of polymerized DNA within, these soft robots are capable of reversible shapeshifting. The secret to the structural reconfiguration is rooted in how the DNA is packed within the flowers, and its ability to fold and unfold in response to pH changes. The flowers can also host a variety of payloads and activate processes and releasing molecules in response to the shape change, for targeted applications ranging from sense-and-treat systems to ecological disaster cleanup.  

” People would love to have monitoring capsules that would activate therapeutic processes in response to disease biomarkers and regulate them to a complete halt as healing progresses. In principle, this will eventually be possible, but one needs materials that can reversibly respond to environmental cues and activate/deactivate processes. Our technology does that,” said Freeman.  

While these soft robotic flowers are currently only tested in the lab with the vision of transplanting them, Freeman said in the future it might be possible to use them inside the body. The DNA-flowers will be injected and targeted to a particular diseased spot such as a tumor. Then, the acidic pH of the tumor environment will trigger the flower to furl its petals and activate production and release of therapeutic agents. Once pH levels up as tumor is cleared, the flower will open back up and stop the release of therapy. If the tumor re-emerges, the flowers that have been waiting dormant, would reclose – destroying regrown tumor.  

Beyond healthcare, this breakthrough technology holds promise for marine environments, where programmable DNA soft robots could respond to chemical spills, fires and other disasters by releasing cleaning agents such as enzymes and effectively disappear once the task is complete.