NEWS
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY Robot-made molecules MARIA BURKE
Researchers have built the first ‘molecular’ robot able to assemble several different molecules according to how it is programmed. In future, such robots could be used for medical purposes, advanced manufacturing processes and even building molecular factories and assembly lines. Each robot is a millionth of a millimetre in size, made up of 150 carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms, reports David Leigh’s team at the University of Manchester, UK. New molecules can be constructed on the end of the robot’s ‘arm’ by switching stereochemical preference during a multi- step assembly sequence (Nature; doi:10.1038/ nature23677). ‘The robot responds to a series of simple
commands programmed with chemical inputs,’ Leigh explains. The arm can be positioned next to one of two catalysts, which each promote the formation of a different stereoisomer during the reaction. When
AUTOMATION Business NOT as usual CATH O’DRISCOLL
UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn announced in September 2017 that he wants to impose a tax on companies that use robotic technologies to replace people.
Speaking at last
month’s party conference, Corbyn said the money raised would be used to pay for retraining of affected employees. Over the next 15 years, nearly a third of
UK jobs could face automation, according to consultancy firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) in its March 2017 UK Economic Outlook report. There was a stark warning too from futurist Gerd Leonhard, a keynote speaker at Bayer’s ‘Future of Farming Dialog [sic]’ event in Germany in September. ‘General Electric printed its first 3D printed engine three weeks ago,’ he said. ‘Even cars are now 3D printed.’ ‘Anything that can be automated will be.’ Spurred on by developments in artificial
intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things and genome editing, the pace of technological change is about to accelerate at a rate that is hitherto unprecedented, Leonhard believes. ‘Today, we are at the pivot point of [a
period of] exponential change. Humanity is about to change more in the next 20 years than in the past 300,’ he predicts. In just seven years, researchers will
likely have developed a computer with the capability of the human brain, Leonhard
pointed out, while by 2040 we will see the first computer with the capability of all human brains. ‘Data are the new oil,’ he said, while ‘AI is
the new electricity since we can’t do anything without intelligent machines looking at data’. But while new AI-related technologies
may help solve some of society’s Grand Challenges, Leonhard cautions that we need urgently to look at ways to regulate such technologies. Smart factories of the future will be dramatically more efficient than in the past, but the ultimate goal of technology is to ‘fire everyone,’ he said. The biggest danger is that robotic technologies will take away all the things that make us human and that we ‘become too much like them’, he added, calling for a Digital Ethics Council to oversee their deployment. The world’s food industry is the next
sector about to be totally disrupted by these new technologies, Leonhard believes, referring to new technologies such as vertical farming and animal-free meat products by companies such as Memphis Meats. We may even have to look forward to a future of ‘personalised food’ plans, he suggests, where each person is advised by their own tailored food formula what to eat.
a reagent is added, the reaction outcome depends on which catalyst is nearby. Leigh demonstrated how the robot works
by making a molecule in two catalytic steps, so there are four possible stereoisomers. Which one is made depends on the ‘programme’ by which the robot is operated, positioning the arm next to the required catalyst before each step.
The basic catalytic unit used, based on the amino acid proline, has been developed over many years and can promote many useful reactions. Leigh reports on two of these, but points out the robot could be adapted to catalyse different reactions or use other different types of molecular building blocks. Using molecular machinery will
reduce demand for materials and power requirements, accelerate drug discovery and promote miniaturisation of other products, says Leigh. ‘Molecular robotics represents the ultimate in the miniaturisation of machinery. Our aim is to design and make the smallest machines possible. This is just the start,
but we anticipate that within 10 to 20 years molecular robots will begin to be used to build molecules and materials on assembly lines in molecular factories.’ Euan Kay of the University of St Andrews,
UK, says this is the first artificial molecular machine that can assemble different molecular products according to changes in its mechanical state. ‘This is really remarkable stuff. It is highly significant as a tangible demonstration that artificial molecular assembly machines really can work – something that has been debated for many years – and what’s more they can achieve unique outcomes. ‘The system reported here might
seem rather cumbersome for practical applications…but already, they have shown that the machine can make products that just cannot be made using the same catalysts in a traditional manner, and everything takes place all in one pot, with no purification between each step. It’s a huge step forward in terms of both novelty and sophistication.’
8 08 | 2017
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