DNA is present in the nucleus of most mammalian cells, and serves as an instruction manual for our bodies by telling its constituent parts how they should act to best serve the whole. Most DNA forms a double helix formation when two separate strands featuring billions of complementary chemical bases bind together. But then I realised that the nano-Nerf idea could actually be a springboard for a useful new technology: if we can create molecular injection devices, then we might one day be able to use these nano-injectors to deliver drugs to cells in a manner that is more effective, precise, and safe than current technologies,” continued Kosuri. “The best inventions are the ones that first make you laugh, and then make you think!" Using this technique, Kosuri’s team were able to computer model the outline of a Nerf Gun, and then mixed trillions of the manipulated scaffold DNA strands together with quadrillions of staple strands in a solution where they could naturally combine, and hopefully form the correct shape. After an hour-and-a-half the successfully combined DNA Nerf Guns were separated from the failed strands.

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Rober then took the design to the University’s micromechanisms lab, where they grew a microscopic functional version from carbon nanotubes 100 times smaller than a regular Nerf pistol. This latest monument to smallness was so tiny it was literally dwarfed by an ant, and could only be fired with the aid of a robotic micromanipulator needle. According to Kosuri, Rober’s Nerf-based shenanegans got his team thinking about similar ways they could manipulate DNA to use as a drug delivery system to treat diseases. “When Mark asked me if we could build a Nerf blaster out of DNA, at first I just thought of it as a fun stunt,” remarked the assistant professor. The scientists then used the carbon nanotube synthesis tech to grow outlines of Nerf Guns that were 10,000 times smaller than the original, which were a fifth the width of a human hair, and required an electron microscope to view.First up, the YouTuber turned to his alma mater of Brigham Young University, and asked a team of students led by professor Larry L. Howell to design a fully functional miniature Nerf gun that could fit on a human finger. The tiny scale Rober envisioned for the project meant it would be impossible to design the model using the combination of moving parts and springs that allows an ordinary Nerf Gun to fire its payload of air propelled foam bullets.