DNA origami – art, science, and engineering

Abstract

The DNA origami method is an extraordinarily powerful and robust method for the assembly of almost arbitrarily shaped nanoscale objects made from DNA. Technological advances such as DNA origami and the availability of a range of computational tools have transformed DNA self-assembly from an art into a genuine engineering discipline. Investigators with diverse backgrounds are now beginning to use the origami method in their field of research. Potential applications range from single molecule bio-and nanophysics over structural biology to synthetic biology and nanomedicine. This article discusses the transition of DNA nanotechnology to molecular scale engineering and describes, citing several examples, the power and utility of DNA origami for scientific research.Keywords: DNA nanotechnology; bioengineering; synthetic biology IntroductionThe past few years have seen tremendous progress in the field of DNA nanotechnology. This progress is a result of a variety of technical advances in the production of DNAbased nanoscale structures, which have opened up the field to a much larger group of researchers than maybe 10 years ago. Most notably, the "DNA origami" technique provides a conceptually simple and robust method for the assembly of molecular nanostructures at high yield. The method can in principle be automatized and therefore may be regarded as one of the first successful examples for genuine nanoscale engineering utilizing nanoscale self-assembly.In this article, the transformation of DNA nanotechnology from an "art" to a "technology" will be briefly discussed. A few emerging applications of this technology will be described, notably applications as tools for single-molecule studies as well as applications in nanoscale physics and nanomedicine. The article also briefly addresses the question whether DNA nanotechnology has to be seen as an engineering discipline that simply provides nanoscale researchers with an enabling technology or whether it itself leads to novel and fundamental scientific questions.

3D plasmonic chiral colloids

“…[6][7][8][9][10] The DNA origami technique, introduced by Rothemund, 11 relies on the nanoscale folding of a single-stranded viral DNA by numerous helper strands to create arbitrary 2D or 3D shapes. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Due to the fact that each individual helper strand can be modied and extended to produce a sequence-dependent surface tag, DNA origami can serve as a template to assemble functionalized nanoparticles. [19][20][21][22][23][24] Signicant progress in DNA origami technology has been concurrent with the prompt spanning of the scope of utility and diversity of possible conjugate materials.…”

Supramolecular Wireframe DNA Polyhedra: Assembly and Applications

“…The advent of scaffolded DNA origami has significantly impacted the evolution of structural DNA nanotechnology for the last 10 years, especially in the fabrication of finite-size, arbitrarily shaped, and highly addressable structures in nanoscale. [43] In 2006, Paul Ruthemund published a milestone paper in which the term of "scaffolded DNA origami" was coined. [15] This work has evoked a further flourishing and popularization of DNA nanotechnology.…”

“…[43] In 2006, Paul Ruthemund published a milestone paper in which the term of "scaffolded DNA origami" was coined. [15] This work has evoked a further flourishing and popularization of DNA nanotechnology.…”

Encapsulating Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients in Self‐Assembling Adamantanes with Short DNA Zippers

“…Unfortunately,l ong oligonucleotides or nucleic acids can be difficult and expensive to produce, requiring either solid-phase syntheses or complex biotechnological processes. [20] Further, long linear DNA does not readily form cavities of asize suitable for encapsulatings mall molecules with high efficiency.N or do the complex multistrand assemblies typically produced with the DNA origami technique [21,22] lend themselves to scale-up for producing the quantities requiredf or clinical studies. Instead, an ew class of oligonucleotide-based compounds that was developed in the realm of DNA nanotechnology seemed more promising.…”