Dr Felix Rizzuto, Scientia Senior Lecturer, is reimagining DNA not just as the blueprint of life but as a powerful material for building machines at the smallest possible scale. In his lab, DNA is folded like origami into complex structures which can then be transformed into nanomachines capable of moving, assembling other structures, or delivering cargo.
The challenge is control: how to direct where these tiny machines go, how fast they move, and what tasks they perform. Dr Rizzuto’s research is developing “nano-robots” that can be guided to transport molecules, transform their structures, and even build other nanomachines on demand.
With potential applications spanning medicine, chemistry, and advanced technology, his work could one day revolutionise how we design treatments, manufacture materials, and perform chemistry at the molecular level.