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Self-Assembling DNA Pyramids

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the new-and-improved-building-blocks dept.

FleaPlus writes "Physicists in England and the Netherlands have unveiled a technique for constructing rigid DNA pyramids. With the technique, trillions of d4's can rapidly self-assemble from a solution of single-stranded DNA. The scientists also showed that single DNA strands called linkers could be used to attach the tetrahedra to each other, acting as a possible building block for 3D nanofabrication."

2 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Mixing Nano and Bio... by oldzoot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seems kind of scary to use Bio building blocks to do nano-tech construction. Will the industrial use of DNA nano-blocks have biosafety scrutiny? I hope that some wonderfully usefull industrial nano-object does not end up with a potent lethality, particularly if it somehow can replicate in the wild.

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    enough is too much
  2. Re:So the builders of the pyramids are... by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I know that the pyramid/egyptian link is just too easy to resist, but they were square base pyramids, these, being made up of tetrahedrons, will be triangular based.

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    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?