DNA – It’s Not Just For Breakfast (Or Identifying Murderers) Anymore

Pop Quiz: what’s the size of a teaspoon and costs more than the entire economic output of the entire planet?  If you answered “Donald Trump’s toupee adhesive”, that answer is incorrect.

DNA Origami Fights Cancer. I KNEW I Should Have Paid Attention in Third Grade Art Class!

Well it’s not the grey-goo apocalypse that we’ve all been waiting for, but scientists have finally started human trials of a DNA nanobot that targets cancer cells.  A few years ago, some Caltech eggheads figured out how to fold DNA into interesting shapes like block letters and smiley faces.  This is what happens when we stop teaching cursive in elementary school.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard, however, have graduated from graffiti to the next big medical breakthrough.  They used the ancient art of Origami (pronounced: “Oh-dee-gah-mee”. Also acceptable: “that swan thing my grandmother does before her crossword”) to create DNA “clamshells” that seek out cancer cells in the body, open up like the Ark of the Covenant, and deliver a payload of death to the target cells.  Much like clams in white wine sauce do to my bowels.