Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, have created more than 100 3D nanostructures using DNA building blocks that function like Lego® bricks. This method is the next step toward using DNA nanotechnologies for sophisticated applications, such as “smart” medical devices that target drugs selectively to disease sites, programmable imaging probes, and more.

The nanofabrication technique, called “DNA-brick self-assembly,” uses short, synthetic strands of DNA that work like interlocking blocks because of the ability to program DNA to form predesigned shapes based on the underlying pairing structure of DNA base pairs. But there’s a “twist” in the new method required to build in 3D.

The trick is to start with a smaller DNA brick, 32 bases in length, which changes the orientation of every matched-up pair of bricks to a 90 degree angle—giving every two blocks a 3D shape. In this way, the team can use these bricks to build “out” in addition to “up,” and eventually form 3D structures, such as a 25-nanometer solid cube containing hundreds of bricks.

The research was supported by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

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