DNA Origami

FleaPlus writes "Caltech scientist Paul Rothemund has developed a new technique for designing and generating self-assembling 2D nanostructures out of DNA. To demonstrate the technique, which is reportedly simple enough that a high-schooler can design with it, Rothemund created patterns like smiley faces, text, and a map of the Americas. The technique might be useful for generating 'nanobreadboard' scaffolds for things like molecular-scale circuitry, protein-based factories, and quantum computers. Rothemund is currently working to extend the technique to 3D nanostructures."

Comments

Stuff I didn't get from TA

[cagle_.25]

And I'm not a biologist, so don't kill me.

1. How does the template interact with the DNA to cause self-assembly in the desired pattern?
2. If I throw RNA in with the object, can the structure reproduce?
3. Since these are all based on a single gene, they all code for the same protein, right?
4. How could these structures be used for molecular computing? (the article hints at it; I want details).

Responses starting with IAABiochemist are encouraged...

IANABiologist, but this sounds very important.

[FlyByPC]

Aren't programs like Folding@Home spending thousands of hours of computer time trying to come up with the proper shape to get drugs to behave in a desired way? Even if there's more to it (which there probably is; biology is far from my strongest subject), the potential for nanomanufacturing sounds very very interesting.

I'm thinking that, if this can be applied to materials of varying conductivity -- or if these materials can be made to replace certain types of DNA -- you could make super-efficient capacitors, photovoltaic cells, etc.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if this ended up being as important a development as the integrated circuit.

Re:IANABiologist, but this sounds very important.

[aXis100]

I think protein "folding" is another order of magnitude more complex than this. It has to do with creating the right molecular sockets and receptors just a few atoms wide to bind to the target (vusrus, bacterium etc).

This article is about folding entire strands, sather than a particular site on that strand.

is it just me, or...

[Khyber]

isn't origami 3-d, not 2-d as the stuff in the submission says? I'm not trying to troll, but I don't see any 2-d origami anywhere on the net. If someone can point me out to 2-D origami, please do, I want to learn!