Home > Press > Nanotech Artisans Sculpt with DNA
Abstract:
It loops, folds, sticks to itself, and contorts into shapes as intricate as a smiley face—all within the confines of a region one-thousandth the diameter of a human cell. DNA is the stuff of life but it also is the dream molecule that scientists building miniature devices love to sculpt. Indeed, strands of DNA can fit together like Lego blocks to make tiny objects of complex shape and structure.
But researchers need to work with much larger groupings of DNA to realize a key goal: building miniature, durable sensors to detect trace amounts of air pollutants, poisonous chemicals, or other molecules. Researchers also envision tiny containers made of DNA would spring open to deliver life-saving drugs to particular organs in the body. Those devices have been difficult to produce because long chains of DNA are floppy and the standard method of assembling long chains is prone to error.
To overcome these problems, PML scientists are using a protein that binds to DNA as a kind of nanoscale rebar, or reinforcing bar, to support the loose DNA scaffolding. Using the rebar, the scientists have constructed several of the largest rectangular, linear, and other shapes ever assembled from DNA. In addition, because the new method requires fewer chemically distinct pieces to build DNA structures, it is likely to reduce the number of errors in constructing the shapes. That’s a big plus for the effort to produce reliable DNA-based devices in large quantities.
####
For more information, please click here
Copyright © National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
Chemistry
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024
News and information
Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024
Nanofabrication
New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed February 16th, 2024
Researchers develop technique to synthesize water-soluble alloy nanoclusters January 12th, 2024
Laboratories
A battery’s hopping ions remember where they’ve been: Seen in atomic detail, the seemingly smooth flow of ions through a battery’s electrolyte is surprisingly complicated February 16th, 2024
NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
Optically trapped quantum droplets of light can bind together to form macroscopic complexes March 8th, 2024
Possible Futures
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Nanomedicine
High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024
Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024
Sensors
Discoveries
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Announcements
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Nanobiotechnology
High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024
Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||