Programmable
DNA Lattices: Design Synthesis and Applications
Objective:
A key challenge to science
and technology is to produce a general chemical system providing control over
the structure of matter on the nanometer scale. The ability to do this will
allow the design and construction of new materials with defined microscopic
features. The objective of this research project is the development of
programmable methods for construction of complex objects on the supramolecular
(10-100 nm) scale. Our specific goals are:
á
to design and experimentally
test self-assembled DNA nanostructures constructed by bottom-up assembly
methods,
á
to demonstrate the capability
of self-assembled DNA nanostructures to provide programmable assembly of DNA
molecules into patterned structures, and
á
the application of these DNA
nanostructures as superstructures for nanostructures composed of other
materials.
The DNA nanostructures we are
constructing include:
We are experimentally
testing two major applications of these DNA lattices:
á
patterned DNA lattices in 2D
will be formed (e.g., the patterns
for a demultiplexed RAM circuit), and
á
periodic 3D DNA lattices are
being applied to X-ray crystallography of otherwise non-crystalline molecules
(which include a considerable percentage of all proteins) attached to the
lattices.