Ke, Y. et al. Science 338, 1177–1183 (2012).

The relatively new field of DNA nanotechnology has grown rapidly with the development of methods for constructing structures and devices from DNA strands. Ke et al. describe a new method to construct ever more complex three-dimensional structures by stacking together combinations of 'DNA bricks' composed of 32-nucleotide single-stranded DNA molecules with four 8-nucleotide binding domains. In a single annealing reaction, a three-dimensional structure can be self-assembled from hundreds of DNA bricks, aided by a software tool for structure design. Akin to building a toy house using LEGO blocks, the approach is highly modular; Ke et al. reported the self-assembly of 102 distinct structures, which included intricate tunnels and cavities, by selecting subsets of appropriate DNA bricks from a master collection.