The art of the fold.Behind this simple grin is one of the most complex nanostructures ever made. To construct this 100-nanometer-wide smiley See emoticon. smiley - emoticon face, computer scientist Paul Rothemund of the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. in Pasadena improved on a technique known as DNA origami Nanoscale folding of DNA, also known as DNA origami, was pioneered by Paul Rothemund at California Institute of Technology. The process allows researchers to create arbitrary two-dimensional shapes at the nanoscale using DNA. . In it, a single-helix strand of synthesized DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. is folded into a loose geometric shape and held in place with a few short strands of DNA. By weaving many more short "staple strands" of DNA into the long strand's scaffold, Rothemund bound the DNA into a tight, mazelike pattern. With this technique, he created several shapes that are "10 times as complex and several times bigger" than previous DNA origami designs, Rothemund reports in the March 16 Nature. |
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