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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles
Published on: May 8, 2015
Automated design of stiffness-tunable DNA origami hollowframes for self-assembling metamaterials
Abstract:
DNA origami offers a route to engineering architected metamaterials with sub-nanometer precision by linking nanoscale building blocks into micron-scale assemblies. However, automated design spaces are currently limited to fixed DNA origami motifs, restricting control over the stiffness of mass-efficient nanostructures. Here, we introduce a fully automated design paradigm that converts prescribed vertices, edges, and cross-section specifications directly into manufacturable, nucleotide-level models. To demonstrate robustness, three structurally distinct nanostructures are realized under a shared experimental protocol. Further, this paradigm enables the programmed assembly of hollowframe building blocks into micron-scale architectures, including traditional and reentrant honeycomb lattices. More broadly, this work establishes a design abstraction for stiffness-tunable DNA origami nanostructures that can be rapidly translated into architected metamaterials with distinct simulation-predicted mechanical responses.

