Researchers have assembled micrometre-sized particles into a variety of crystals using DNA as 'glue'.

DNA has been used to control the assembly of DNA-coated nanoparticles, but doing this with larger particles leads to the formation of random clumps that do not crystallize. To solve this, Marcus Weck, David Pine and their colleagues at New York University attached many short DNA strands to the surface of polymer particles. The high density of DNA strands — 5 to 25 times higher than in previous work — along with their short 'sticky' ends and the smooth particle surface resulted in the particles self-assembling into various crystalline designs.

The method could be used to make more complex structures out of a range of materials including metals and semiconductors, the authors say.

Nature Commun. 6, 7253 (2015)