Structural DNA nanotechnology

(wiki-TODO: add illustrative image)

Especially impressive branch of structural DNA nanotechnology: 3D blocks/parts made from DNA bricks (bricks = short floppy DNA snippets aka oglionucleotides, not the whole blocks) This is conceptual but they have been experimentally made with great success. – Picture is Figure1 from the paper "Three-Dimensional Structures Self-Assembled from DNA Bricks" by Yonggang Ke,Luvena L. Ong, William M. Shih, Peng Yin

• 2D DNA origami
• extended 2D lattice crystals
• 3D DNA cages
• 3D DNA blocks made from staple Bricks as voxels
• hierarchical shape assembly of blocks controlled by salt concentration
• micro sized periodic 3D structures
• structures with elastic links that act as rotation allowing hinges actuated by single strand DNA as entropic spring
• more complex linkage structures including an sliding element

• operation in non water solvents

DNA bricks

[...]

When one watches the simulation of the self assembly process of DNA bricks [TODO add link] one is led to doubt the stiffness of the product. The DNA double helix can create siff polymeres if the used doublehelix segments are kept in the length range from one to three turns. Mentioned here [1] under the section "DNA as Construction Material" and referenced here (unchecked). Is there quantitative information about the stiffness of whole DNA bricks (to investigate)?

External links

Harvard's Wyss Institute:

• large DNA crystals with precisely prescribed depths and complex 3D features (paper ...)
• 3D DNA structures using DNA "Bricks"
• DNA origami
• Scientists create custom three-dimensional structures with "DNA origami"

Other:

• Kyoto University DNA Nanotechnology Group
• Paper on very large blocks:
  Programmable self-assembly of three-dimensional nanostructures from 10,000 unique components
  News coverage: phys.org on DECEMBER 21, 2017

Wikipedia:

• DNA origami
• DNA nanotechnology
• Oligonucleotide synthesis
• DNA synthesis
• Carlson curve

Videos

• Ten years of DNA origami (2016-03-18)
• Short introduction video series to structural DNA nanotechnology by William Shih (Harvard) 2014-04
  (Part 1: Nanofabrication via DNA Origami) (Part 2: Nanofabrication via DNA Single Stranded Bricks ) (Part 3: DNA-Nanostructure Tools)
• Youtube TEDMED: early medical applications still more on the side of the brownian technology path

Related

• De-novo protein engineering – Compared to SDN it is stiffer (good) but has less termination control (bad).
• Steric traps
• Hierarchical selfassembly
• Algorithmic selfassembly
• Stiffness – SDN lacks it quite a bit, so much in fact that
  it only features topological atomic precision not positional atomic precision