Nature uses self-assembly to make a diversity of complex structures, such as biomolecules, virus shells, and cytoskeletal filaments. Today a key challenge is to translate this assembly process to artificial systems. DNA-coated nanoparticles provide a particularly promising approach to realizing this vision, since the base sequences can be designed to encode the formation of a chosen structure.
A recent publication from the Rogers Lab shows that interactions between DNA-coated particles can be encoded using DNA oligomers dispersed in solution that bind the particles together. By changing the linker sequences in solution, Ph.D. students Janna Lowensohn and Alex Hensley showed that the same set of components can be directed to form a variety of different crystal structures. Going forward, this approach may be used to create programmable materials that can sense and respond to their environment.
Paper: Self-Assembly and Crystallization of DNA-Coated Colloids via Linker-Encoded Interactions. Lowensohn J, Hensley A, Perlow-Zelman M, Rogers WB. Langmuir. 2020 Feb 18. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b03391. (PubMed abstract)
