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DNA nanotechnology

Bringing lipid bilayers into shape

Lipid bilayers form the thin and floppy membranes that define the boundary of compartments such as cells. Now, a method to control the shape and size of bilayers using DNA nanoscaffolds has been developed. Such designer materials advance synthetic biology and could find use in membrane research.

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Figure 1: DNA nanoscaffolds template bilayer vesicles of tunable size and morphology.

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Correspondence to Stefan Howorka.

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Howorka, S. Bringing lipid bilayers into shape. Nature Chem 9, 611–613 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2809

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