Description du projet
Étudier le comportement collectif des essaims de nanorobots alimentés par des enzymes
Inspirés par les nuées d’oiseaux et les bancs de poissons, des chercheurs dans le domaine de la nanorobotique entendent parvenir à la même complexité de mouvement et à mettre en œuvre des comportements d’essaims dans des systèmes artificiels. Jusqu’à présent, les nanorobots artificiels n’ont été utilisés qu’individuellement. L’étude sur la manière dont les nanorobots se propulsent, naviguent et communiquent dans des environnements biologiques appropriés n’a suscité qu’un faible intérêt. Pour étudier leur comportement coopératif, le projet i-NANOSWARMS, financé par l’UE, développera des essaims de nanorobots alimentés par des enzymes capables de s’autopropulser en recourant à des carburants biocompatibles et biodisponibles. Le projet sera une preuve de concept de la pertinence des nano-essaims pour les applications biomédicales, une meilleure administration des médicaments et l’imagerie médicale.
Objectif
In nature, systems composed of self-propelling agents display complex behaviors such as signal interpretation, propagation, amplification and engage in collective motion mediated by interactions between different agents and their environment. Examples range from swarming bacteria to schooling fish and flocking birds. These self-organized systems have served as an inspiration for researchers seeking to achieve complexity in artificial systems composed of synthetic agents. A class of agents that has recently been demonstrated is of synthetic nanomachines (nanobots) that can self-propel thanks to the conversion of chemical energy, harvested from the environment, into motion. While most of the artificial nanobots have been explored at individual level, their collective emergent behavior, arising from inter-particle interactions through chemical and hydrodynamic fields, and through environment mediated interactions is yet to be properly studied. Understanding collective effects will be especially useful in biologically relevant environments, where a number of applications for these nanobot systems have been envisioned.
i-NANOSWARMS aims to realize enzyme-powered nanobot swarms capable to self-propel using biocompatible and bioavailable fuels and display collective and cooperative behaviours through communication among them as well as with the host environment. The proposal is divided in three working packages. In WP1, I will create a toolbox of nanobots based on a library of enzymes and nanoparticle architectures to study communication and long-range signal propagation using enzyme cascades. WP2 will be devoted to the collective behavior of nanobot swarms, exploiting biomimetic strategies such as chemotaxis and stigmergy to guide and recruit other nanobots. WP3 aims at studying, as a proof-of-concept of the applicability of intelligent nanoswarms for biomedical applications, cooperative behavior among nanoswarms for enhanced drug delivery and medical imaging.
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imaging
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsenzymes
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitution d’accueil
08028 Barcelona
Espagne