Insights into the Structure and Energy of DNA Nanoassemblies.

Since the pioneering work of Ned Seeman in the early 1980s, the use of the DNA molecule as a construction material experienced a rapid growth and led to the establishment of a new field of science, nowadays called structural DNA nanotechnology. Here, the self-recognition properties of DNA are employed to build micrometer-large molecular objects with nanometer-sized features, thus bridging the nano- to the microscopic world in a programmable fashion. Distinct design strategies and experimental procedures have been developed over the years, enabling the realization of extremely sophisticated structures with a level of control that approaches that of natural macromolecular assemblies.

Manipulating Enzymes Properties with DNA Nanostructures.

Nucleic acids and proteins are two major classes of biopolymers in living systems. Whereas nucleic acids are characterized by robust molecular recognition properties, essential for the reliable storage and transmission of the genetic information, the variability of structures displayed by proteins and their adaptability to the environment make them ideal functional materials. One of the major goals of DNA nanotechnology-and indeed its initial motivation-is to bridge these two worlds in a rational fashion.