The applications of DNA walkers include nanomedicine, diagnostic sensing of biological samples, nanorobotics and much more. In late 2015, Yehl et al. improved the DNA walker's function by increasing its velocity, and it has been proposed as the basis for a low-cost, low-tech diagnostics machine capable of detecting single nucleotide mutations and heavy-metal contamination in water. In 2018 Nils Walter and his team designed a DNA walker that is capable of moving at a speed of 300 nanometres per minute. This is an order of magnitude faster than the pace of other types of DNA walker.