Designing DNA to encode 3D nanoarchitectures
Gaëtan Bellot
Centre de biologie structurale, Montpellier
DNA is best known as the molecule that encodes genetic information. DNA origami nanotechnology has extended this concept by showing that DNA sequences can also encode three-dimensional molecular shape. By programming the interactions between DNA strands, complex objects can be assembled with nanometre-scale control over their geometry, organization, and composition.
In this seminar, I will introduce DNA origami and our efforts to develop a general framework for designing and constructing functional architectures at the nanoscale. I will discuss why DNA is particularly attractive as a material for this purpose. For exemple, DNA combines programmable self-assembly, molecular precision, addressability and biological compatibility. Importantly, self-assembly provides a powerful route to manufacturing, allowing billions of molecular structures to be produced in parallel from a common set of molecular instructions. I will then describe how we exploit these properties to create DNA-based architectures for materials science and bio-medical applications. By controlling the three-dimensional organization of molecules with nanometre precision, we aim to create new classes of functional materials and molecular devices that can interact with biological systems, providing new ways to probe, manipulate, and potentially repair cellular processes at the submicron scale.