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ALL-DNA SUPERSTRUCTURES

DNA enters a new phase

Nature Nanotechnology volume 13, pages 624–625 (2018)Cite this article

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A phase-separated state is observed with single-stranded DNA composed of ‘polymeric’ blocks and exploited to programme the assembly of micrometre-sized all-DNA colloidal particles.

DNA has emerged as a programmable bonding element for directing the formation of highly ordered and even crystalline matter1. Indeed, researchers have used DNA, often in combination with nanoparticles2 or polymers3, to prepare materials and assemblies with unusual chemical and physical properties that make them useful in fields spanning medicine4, plasmonics/optics5 and catalysis6. Now, writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Walther and co-workers7 elegantly combine the programmability of DNA with their newly developed phase-separation concepts (similar to those seen with conventional block copolymers8) to synthesize new micrometre-sized, all-DNA particles, such as core–shell structures (one type of DNA in the centre and one forming the shell) and hollow, solvent-filled capsules that can be likened to ‘protocells’.

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Fig. 1: A combination of DNA phase-separation and hybridization yields new all-DNA colloids that could not be realized with each process in isolation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Chad A. Mirkin & Sarah Hurst Petrosko

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  1. Chad A. Mirkin
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  2. Sarah Hurst Petrosko
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Correspondence to Chad A. Mirkin or Sarah Hurst Petrosko.

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Mirkin, C.A., Petrosko, S.H. DNA enters a new phase. Nature Nanotech 13, 624–625 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0229-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0229-5

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