DNA cages guide nanoparticle self-assembly

March 18, 2009 | Source: New Scientist Tech

Trapping nanoparticles in cages made of DNA could finally allow them to self-assemble into transistors, metamaterials and even tiny robots by preventing the nanoparticles from clumping together at random, one of the biggest problems with nanoscale self-assembly, University of Michigan scientists suggest.

The nanopoarticle is trapped inside a tetrahedral cage that has a single strand of DNA sticking out at each vertex. This symmetrical arrangement of strands is important because it prevents the cages clumping together at random. Instead, the strands bind to strands on other cages, linking the cages together forming a programmable 3D structure.