Mastering the complexity of DNA nanostructures

Abstract

The self-assembly of oligodeoxynucleotides is a versatile and powerful tool for the construction of objects in the nanoscale. The strictly information-driven pairing of DNA fragments can be used to rationally design and build nanostructures with planned topologies and geometries. Taking advantage of the steadily expanding library of well-characterized DNA motifs, several examples of structures with different dimensionalities have appeared in the literature in the past few years, laying the foundations for a promising DNA-mediated, bottom-up approach to nanotechnology. This article focuses on recent developments in this area of research and proposes a classification of DNA nanostructures based on topological considerations in addition to describing strategies for tackling the inherent complexities of such an endeavor.