AUTONOMOUS PROGRAMMABLE BIOMOLECULAR DEVICES USING SELF-ASSEMBLED DNA NANOSTRUCTURES

摘要

The particular molecular-scale devices that are the topic of this article are known as DNA nanostructures. As will be explained, DNA nanostructures have some unique advantages among nanostructures: they are relatively easy to design, fairly predictable in their geomet ric structures, and have been experimentally implemented in a growing number of laboratories around the world. They are constructed primarily of synthetic DNA. A key principle in the study of DNA nanostructures is the use of self-assembly processes to actuate the molecular assembly. Since self-assembly operates naturally at the molecular scale, it does not suffer from the limitation in scale reduction that restricts lithography or other more conventional top-down manufacturing techniques.