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Updated: Dec 27, 2025
08:00
DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
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Biologically templated organic polymers with nanoscale order
Bert Willis1, Lisa M Eubanks, Malcolm R Wood
1Department of Chemistry, Immunology, Core Microscopy Facility, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, and Worm Institute for Research and Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Summary
Chemists developed a novel templating method using filamentous bacteriophage-polyacrylamide biomacromolecules. This self-assembly technique creates highly ordered helical bundles with hexagonal close packing, mimicking nature's nanoscale structures.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials science
- Nanotechnology
- Polymer chemistry
Background:
- Ordered nanoscale arrays are crucial for advanced technologies like microelectronics and separation.
- Nature effectively utilizes templating strategies for nanoscale assembly, but chemical replication remains challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel method for creating ordered nanoscale arrays using a templating strategy.
- To replicate nature's success in self-assembling nanoscale structures.
Main Methods:
- Utilized filamentous bacteriophage-polyacrylamide biomacromolecules as building blocks.
- Employed a self-assembly process to form ordered structures.
- Investigated the resulting helical bundles and their packing arrangement.
Main Results:
- Achieved self-assembly of biomacromolecules into highly ordered helical bundles.
- Observed hexagonal close packing within the assembled structures.
- Demonstrated that the macroscopic assembly magnifies the microscopic chirality and helicity of individual phage particles.
Conclusions:
- The developed templating technology successfully creates ordered nanoscale arrays.
- The results validate mathematical predictions for the close packing of flexible tubes.
- This biopolymeric assembly offers a new route for designing advanced nanomaterials.
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