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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Gene-therapy Inspired Polycation Coating for Protection of DNA Origami Nanostructures
Published on: January 19, 2019
Putting DNA to Work as Generic Polymeric Materials
Dong Wang1, Peifeng Liu2,3, Dan Luo1,4
1Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA.
Abstract:
DNA is a true polymer that stores the genetic information of an organism. With its amazing biological and polymeric characteristics, DNA has been regarded as a universal building block for the construction of diverse materials for real-world applications. Through various approaches including ligation, polymerization, chemical crosslinking, and physical crosslinking, both pure and hybrid DNA gels have been developed as generic materials. This Review discusses recent advances in the construction of DNA-based networks without considering any of DNA's genetic properties. In addition, we highlight the biomedical and non-biomedical applications of DNA as generic materials. Owing to the superb molecular recognition, self-assembly, and responsiveness of DNA, a mushrooming number of DNA materials with various properties have been developed for general utilization.
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