Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Analytical Chemistry

Building In 3-D With DNA Origami

Shaping DNA strands into predetermined shapes advances from flat, 2-D smiley faces to 3-D boxes

by Bethany Halford
May 11, 2009 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 87, Issue 19

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Ebbe Sloth Andersen
A nanoscale box built by DNA origami springs open, as indicated by a fluorescence signal (yellow), in the presence of two short oligonucleotides (blue and orange).
Credit: Ebbe Sloth Andersen
A nanoscale box built by DNA origami springs open, as indicated by a fluorescence signal (yellow), in the presence of two short oligonucleotides (blue and orange).

The world of DNA origami is no longer flat. The technique, in which hundreds of short oligonucleotides fold and fasten a long single strand of DNA into a predetermined shape, has now been extended into three dimensions. A team led by Jørgen Kjems and Kurt V. Gothelf of Denmark's Aarhus University has created a tiny box to add to the collection of 2-D nanoscale snowflakes, smiley faces, and dolphins that have been constructed through the clever application of DNA origami (Nature 2009, 459, 73). The DNA box measures 42 nm high by 36 nm wide by 36 nm deep—large enough to hold a ribosome or a poliovirus. The researchers equipped the structure with a dual lock-and-key system that pops open the lid of the box in the presence of two short strands of DNA. They also added two fluorescent dyes to the box so they could follow the unlocking process by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Because the box is able to both sense and react, it could be used as a diagnostic sensor that releases, for example, a medicinal payload under the proper conditions.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.