Can nanites rebuild a DNA molecule?

[augment]

I was just wondering with all the advancements in genetics over the past few years if its possible yet for nanite to completely build a DNA molecule. I dont have any education in genetics yet because I'm still in high school. I know DNA is A's, C's,T's, and G's. I was thinking that if the information was loaded into a computer that had all the information for a particular DNA molecule that it could program nanites to build it. I think this might be to futuristic though.

[Bluenoise]

Well seeing as there's no such thing as a nanite I'd have to say the answer is no.

 

On the other hands DNA synthesis machience do exist that can chemically synthesis strands of a DNA. Umm I'll spare you a chemical explaination, I doubt it would help.

But here's a nova video that may.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/01.html

 

But yeah no such thing as nanites, that's the relm of science fiction. A very distant sci fi.

[augment]

Oh. I figured they didnt' exist anyway.

[Bunny_aaa]

Nanite=informal name for nanorobot=Nanotechnology Engineering= creating machines of nanometre scale[10^-9metre]

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Aren't nanites out of Star Trek?

[ecoli]

If you're asking can nanobots fix DNA the answer is no, well at least not yet. Who knows what the future will hold. I can easily imagine using nanobots as gene therapy to cure cancers or other genetically related diseases.

[theMaharajah]

yay Nanobots!

 

Aren't they those things that can turn from a monster into a machiene into a car and into a tank?

[the tree]

I was just wondering with all the advancements in genetics over the past few years if its possible yet for nanite to completely build a DNA molecule. I dont have any education in genetics yet because I'm still in high school.

There's something called gene therapy, where a modified virus can go around replacing faulty genes. This is quite effective against inherited problems and I don't see how nanobots would be much better. However, I can see the sense in using robots to go into a few specific cells, such as cancer cells so that they can be brought back to normality without having to just destroy the problem cell.

Aren't nanites out of Star Trek?

Not sure, there were some in Dr.Who not long ago.

[sunspot]

Although nanobots may be able to build DNA, someday, it is little more complicated than just two DNA helixes and proper base pairing. A length of DNA has a gene order to it. If the nanobot simply makes long random lengths of these genes, it would come out being something different they may not function properly. We first need to understand why genes have the orderring they do. This logic could lead to using nanobots to custom design lifeforms.

[Ruby Loyola]

I'm not sure, but this kind of idea lead me to come up with a device for my scifi comics: a watch-like computer on ones wrist that controls nanobots in the body that hold DNA for diff aliens allowing for shapeshifting. Again, this is scifi (nanites were also in i, Robot). I'm still in High School, too. Might not even have to go next year (only need 1/2 cred of L.A.).

[insane_alien]

I'm not sure, but this kind of idea lead me to come up with a device for my scifi comics: a watch-like computer on ones wrist that controls nanobots in the body that hold DNA for diff aliens allowing for shapeshifting. Again, this is scifi (nanites were also in i, Robot). I'm still in High School, too. Might not even have to go next year (only need 1/2 cred of L.A.).

 

are you sure it wasn't this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_10 that gave you the idea.

 

i don't know if it specifically mentioned nanobots as the mechanism (it was my wee brother who watched it, not me) but the rest is pretty damn similar.