Abstract

DNA has attractive physicochemical characteristics such as robust thermal and hydrolytic stability. It also has desirable structural characteristics stemming from predictable and specific recognition properties that give rise to a highly regular helical structure which behaves as a rigid rod on length scales up to ~50 nm. Since these rigid rods may be welded together by complementary base-pairing, DNA is now taking on a new aspect where it is finding use as a construction element for architecture on the nanoscale. This field is called structural DNA nanotechnology. I describe approaches adopted by my lab where we demonstrate promising new self-assembly strategies that include the use of unusual forms of DNA in structural DNA nanotechnology to make molecular-scale devices. I will then go on to show the application of these DNA -based molecular devices in biological systems.

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