DNA-Based Nanofabrication for Antifouling Applications

This paper reports antifouling properties of nanostructured SiO₂ substrates patterned by DNA lithography. We used DNA triangle nanostructures as templates to produce triangular-shaped trenches ca. 130 nm in size on SiO₂ surfaces. Using B. subtilis as a bacterial model, we found that such nanopatterned surface showed a 75% reduction in bacterial adhesion and 72% reduction in biofilm density at 35% surface coverage of the nanoscale triangular trenches. DNA-based nanofabrication can produce high-resolution designer patterns, but aligning these patterns has been one of the major technical challenges for its applications in nanoelectronics. This work demonstrates the potential of DNA-based nanofabrication in antifouling applications, where surface patterning of micro/nanostructures is required but not their precise alignment.