Single-stranded DNA and RNA origami

We describe a framework to design and synthesize a single DNA or RNA strand to self-fold into a complex yet unknotted structure that approximates an arbitrary user-prescribed shape. We experimentally construct diverse multikilobase single-stranded structures, including a ~10,000-nucleotide (nt) DNA structure and a ~6000-nt RNA structure. We demonstrate facile replication of the strand in vitro and in living cells. The work here thus establishes unimolecular folding as a general strategy for constructing complex and replicable nucleic acid nanostructures, and expands the design space and material scalability for bottom-up nanotechnology.

Source: ScienceNOW - December 14, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Han, D., Qi, X., Myhrvold, C., Wang, B., Dai, M., Jiang, S., Bates, M., Liu, Y., An, B., Zhang, F., Yan, H., Yin, P. Tags: Materials Science r-articles Source Type: news