PREVIEW

Scientists have developed microscopic “soft robots” shaped like flowers that can change their shape and behavior just like living organisms — and they could revolutionise medicine and the environment.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have built what they call “DNA flowers,” tiny machines made from special crystals that combine DNA with inorganic materials. These minuscule creations can fold and unfold in seconds, making them among the most dynamic materials ever engineered at such a microscopic scale.

Each flower’s DNA acts like a miniature computer program, directing how it moves and reacts to its surroundings. When environmental conditions shift, such as a change in acidity, the petals can open, close, or even trigger chemical reactions. The team believes these responsive materials could one day perform delicate tasks inside the body, from delivering drugs to removing clots or cleaning up toxins.

“People would love to have smart capsules that would automatically activate medication when it detects disease and stops when it is healed. In principle, this could be possible with our shapeshifting materials,” said Dr. Ronit Freeman, senior and corresponding author of the paper and director of the Freeman Lab at UNC. “In the future, swallowable or implantable shape-changing flowers could be designed to deliver a targeted dose of drugs, perform a biopsy, or clear a blood clot.”

The researchers took inspiration from nature — from the way flower petals unfurl, corals pulse, and tissues grow — to mimic similar biological movements in synthetic materials, a challenge that has puzzled scientists for years.

“We take inspiration from nature’s designs, like blooming flowers or growing tissue, and translate them into technology that could one day think, move, and adapt on its own,” said Freeman.

The secret lies in how the DNA strands are arranged inside the flower-shaped crystals. When the surrounding environment becomes more acidic, the DNA strands fold tightly, causing the flower to close. As conditions normalise, the petals unfold again. This motion, simple yet powerful, could be harnessed to control chemical reactions, transport molecules, or interact directly with cells and tissues.

While still in its early stages, the technology holds immense promise. In the future, the researchers envision that these DNA flowers could be injected into the body, where they would travel to a tumor. Once there, the tumor’s acidity could trigger the petals to close, releasing a dose of medicine or taking a tiny biopsy. When the cancer disappears, the flowers would reopen and deactivate — ready to respond again if needed.

Beyond medical use, these smart materials might one day help clean up environmental disasters by releasing cleaning agents into polluted water and then dissolving harmlessly afterward. The same technology could also transform data storage, potentially holding up to two trillion gigabytes in a single teaspoon, offering a greener, more efficient alternative to current digital systems.