Non natural tiny-wet machine: Molecular robot

The realization of a tiny-wet machine assembled from the molecular devices such as sensors, actuators, and even logic circuits is one of the major goals of the bioinspired micro-nano robotics. We constructed an ameba-like molecular robot capable of expressing continuous shape change in response to specific signal molecules [1]. The robot includes a main body, an actuator, and an actuator control device (molecular clutch). When the clutch was engaged, the robot showed continuous shape change. When the clutch was disconnected, the shape change behavior stopped. These results show that the components of the robot are consistently integrated into the functional system. We are expecting that this research can provide a platform for constructing increasingly complex and functional molecular systems with controllable motility.