[5] Finding a suitable nanoscale motor capable of autonomous, unidirectional, linear motion is considered important to the development of DNA nanotechnology.
[13] In late 2015, Yehl et al. showed that three orders of magnitude higher than the speeds of motion seen previously were possible when using DNA-coated spherical particles that would "roll" on a surface modified with RNA complementary to the nanoparticle's DNA.
[15] This stator-ring unidirectionally rotated the interlocked rotor-ring by rolling circle transcription (RCT), driven by nucleotide triphosphate (NTP) hydrolysis, thereby constituting a catenated DNA wheel motor.
The wheel motor produces long, repetitive RNA transcripts that remain attached to the DNA-catenane and are used to guide its directional walking along predefined ssDNA tracks arranged on a DNA nanotube.
[7] In late 2015, Yehl et al. improved the DNA walker's function by increasing its velocity, and it has been proposed as the basis for a low-cost, low-tech diagnostics machine capable of detecting single nucleotide mutations and heavy-metal contamination in water.