Experiments in Structural DNA Nanotechnology: Arrays and Devices

In recent years, the chemistry of DNA has expanded from biological systems to nanotechnology. The generalization of the biological processes of reciprocal exchange leads to stable branched motifs that can be used for the construction of DNA-based geometrical and topological objects, arrays and nanomechanical devices. The information in DNA is the basis of life, but it can also be used to control the physical states of a variety of systems, leading ultimately to nanorobotics; these devices include shape-changing, walking and translating machines. We expect ultimately to be able to use the dynamic information-based architectural properties of nucleic acids to be the basis for advanced materials with applications from nanoelectronics to biomedical devices on the nanometer scale.