Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers have for the first time used DNA to guide the creation of three-dimensional, ordered, crystalline structures of nanoparticles, an achievement some see as the “holy grail” of nanoscience.

The ability to engineer such 3-D structures is essential to producing functional materials that take advantage of the unique properties that may exist at the nanoscale–for example, enhanced magnetism, improved catalytic activity, or new optical properties.