Virtus-Parva is a team of Nanotechnology students who aim to create a better world through love,sympathy and endearment… and through the design and development of a novel technology based on micrometric “drills” that can penetrate diverse organisms.

First and foremost, we studied different procedures in order to synthesize the strongest and smallest nanoparticles we could make. Magnetite is a molecule that derives from iron, and has observable magnetic properties. Because we wanted to put together magnetite and DNA, we had to make them compatible,thrpugh deifferent chemical procedures to allow the binding of this DNa into the particle. At the same time, our biology team was busy extracting, purifying and transforming E. coli DNA to work with. We achieved coiling DNA to nanoparticles. The “Magnetic-DNA” complex we created mimics the nucleosome in DNA supercoiling process. This allows us to have a DNA “chromatin-like” with a magnetic core.

Combining magnetite, and DNA, we are building magnetic-core machines, which can be controlled through external electrical impulses. Because of the shape of our system, it is possible for it to have linear movement depending on the frequency applied to it, which has several potential applications. The main one was to make it a resonator which was our module one. Yet, the project did not stop there. We built a DNA carrier, therefore we started a process to enhance

As we were transforming our E. coli cells, we noticed it wasn’t as fast and efficient as we had hoped, which is how we came up with module two of the project. Quite simply, we wanted to take advantage of the shape of our system and its mobility thanks to magnetism in order to make a more efficient transformation. We were able to verify our method was more efficient by making cells express GFP and RFP, which can then be quantified with optic instruments.

NEMS are nanometric electromechanical systems. In this case we take as basis the structure of a resonator which are engineered to make a conversión between energy, such as electric, magnetic, or vibrational into mechanical response.

How exactly do NEMS come into play in our project?

Well, by combining an inorganically synthesized nanoparticle, called magnetite and DNA into what we call BioNEMS drill.

Naturally, and as part of the process of transcription DNA is wrapped around protein molecules called histones. The combined loop of DNA and protein is called nucleosome, and this nucleosome is going to be packed into a thread. Our objective was to insert magnetite into this system, in order to convert it into a NEMS and be able to control DNA’s movement using an external stimuli.