DNA Design

In this month's CRN science essay, Chris Phoenix writes:

DNA is a very versatile molecule, if you know how to use it. Of course, the genetic material for all organisms (except some viruses) is made of DNA. But it is also useful for building shapes and structures, and it is this use that is most interesting to a nanotechnologist.

Until recently, designing a shape out of DNA was a painstaking process of planning sequences that would match in just the right way – and none of the wrong ways. Over the years, a number of useful design patterns were developed, including ways to attach four strands of DNA side by side for extra stiffness; ways to make structures that would contract or twist when a third strand was added to bridge two strands in the structure; and three-way junctions between strands, useful for building geometric shapes. A new structure or technique would make the news every year or so. In addition to design difficulties, it was hard to make sufficiently long error-free strands to form useful shapes.

A few months ago, a new technique was invented by Dr. Paul Rothemund...

READ MORE

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[NanoEnthusiast]

I think one of the main reasons why scientist like to play with DNA is because it is easier to predict and engineer than proteins.

I have wondered why, if there are so many interesting things that can be made with DNA, didn't evolution use it as a building material too? There might be an answer from computer programming where I think there is a word for the practice of segregating code from data. If I understand correctly when the two are mixed you often get strange results. Ribosomes in a cell might get confused if they tried to read merely structural DNA as opposed to data DNA.

[Chris Phoenix, CRN]

DNA doesn't have as many side chains as protein.

You may be onto something with the code/data segregation.

Of course evolution does use RNA as a building tool. Ribozymes; and some of the ribosome is RNA. I can't offhand remember a way in which DNA is used for building.

Chris