A New Spin On DNA: DNA origami joins forces with molecular motors to build nanoscale machines

For decades, researchers have chased ways to study biological machines. Every mechanical movement -- from contracting a muscle to replicating DNA -- relies on molecular motors that take near-undetectable steps. Trying to see them move is like trying to watch a soccer game taking place on the moon. Now, with DNA origami helicopters, researchers have captured the first recorded rotational steps of a molecular motor as it moved from one DNA base pair to another.