More stable DNA origami is possible

The design process is also highly automated, which enables the creation of synthetic DNA nanostructures of remarkable complexity. “What we wanted to do was to create a design paradigm that could very closely mimic polygonal 3D shapes, like the ones that you get in computer 3D models”, said senior author Dr Bjorn Hogberg, of the Karolinska Institute, in Sweden. Researchers claim that it’s now as easy as rendering a complex shape using normal 3-D printing software.

Researchers Björn Högberg and Erik Benson used the self-assembling properties of DNA in order to develop intricate structures with the help of helical strands. The computer will list out the short DNA sequences, which can automatically assemble to form the bunny structure at right temperature. “But the current work arguably presents the most versatile and streamlined design method”, Tim Liedel, an experimental physicist at Ludwig Maximilians University Munich who was not involved in the work, wrote in an accompanying commentary.

Scientists have found a better method in order to build small 3D structures from strands of DNA. “If we can precisely control the arrangements of molecules at the nanoscale, there are many applications that can be envisioned”. Apart from being simpler compared to former ways of making DNA origami, the method – importantly – does not require high concentrations of magnesium salt.

“An advantage of the automated design process is that one can now deal systematically with even quite complex structures”. I believe that advanced computing methods will be of major significance for the development of DNA nanotechnology when steps are taken to proceed from the scale of laboratory tests towards groundbreaking applications, ‘ says Professor Pekka Orponen from Aalto University.

The possible applications are many.

[Image credits: Karolinska Institutet]. DNA nanostructures have also been used to make targeted capsules able to deliver cancer drugs direct to tumor cells, which can reduce the amount of drugs needed.

Hao Yan, a researcher at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, in a new research, has unveiled a variety of innovative nano-forms displaying unprecedented design control. “These structures will be a guide for developing future research, including drug delivery systems, possibly in the next 5 to 10 years”, according to lead researcher Björn Högberg.