'Nano-camo' for fashionistas and environmentalists
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- DeliaTheArtist
- added this
“Camouflage outfits that blend with a variety of environments without need of an outside power source — say, blue when at sea and then brown in a desert environment — is where this work could eventually lead,” says principal investigator George Bachand. “Or the same effect could be used in fabricating chic civilian clothing that automatically changes color to fit different visual settings.”
Such clothing could be a reality in five to ten years, he says.
The power source for both the biological and the lab method relies on the basic cellular fuel called ATP, which releases energy as it breaks down. Fifty percent (roughly) is absorbed by the motor proteins — tiny molecular motors able to move along surfaces.
When fish change colors, motor proteins aggregate and disperse skin pigment crystals carried in their “tails” as they walk with their “feet” along the microtubule skeleton of the cell. By this means, they rearrange the color display.
To put motor proteins in motion or switch them off, nature uses complex signaling networks. The Bachand group’s method is simpler. It involves the simple genetic insertion of a kind of docking port in the motor protein’s structure. What docks are zinc ions. Bound zinc ions turn the protein’s action to “off.” Stripping zinc ions out with chemical agents allows the motor protein to work again. The effect is controllable, and even reversible.
“We essentially reengineered the protein structure to introduce a switch into the motor,” says Bachand. “So we can now turn our nanofluidic devices on and off.”
Such clothing could be a reality in five to ten years, he says.
The power source for both the biological and the lab method relies on the basic cellular fuel called ATP, which releases energy as it breaks down. Fifty percent (roughly) is absorbed by the motor proteins — tiny molecular motors able to move along surfaces.
When fish change colors, motor proteins aggregate and disperse skin pigment crystals carried in their “tails” as they walk with their “feet” along the microtubule skeleton of the cell. By this means, they rearrange the color display.
To put motor proteins in motion or switch them off, nature uses complex signaling networks. The Bachand group’s method is simpler. It involves the simple genetic insertion of a kind of docking port in the motor protein’s structure. What docks are zinc ions. Bound zinc ions turn the protein’s action to “off.” Stripping zinc ions out with chemical agents allows the motor protein to work again. The effect is controllable, and even reversible.
“We essentially reengineered the protein structure to introduce a switch into the motor,” says Bachand. “So we can now turn our nanofluidic devices on and off.”
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Mikeysfake1
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That's cool. I wonder if you walked up to a brick wall your shirt and pants would instantly look bricked?
- 3 years ago
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Mikeysfake1
