Structure and control of DNA origami

Summary

DNA origami is a burgeoning sub-field of bionanotechnology that uses rational design of short DNA molecules to self-assemble or fold a longer single-stranded DNA template into complex 2D and 3D patterns and objects. A far reaching goal of this field is to develop nanoscale molecular devices with high efficiency to carry out tasks such as energy harvesting and transduction, computation and therapeutic delivery for healthcare applications.

The combination of self-assembly properties of DNA and information storage ability make this a promising nanomaterial for active devices. A limitation of the approach however arises from the non-integer number of base-pairs per helical turn in the B-form DNA double helix. This imparts curvature into 2D DNA origami tiles, which limits the ability of these to assemble into higher order structures necessary for future applications.

This project will explore the fundamentals of the DNA self-assemble and its connection to rational design and evoke methods to control the curvature of the nanotiles. It will use a combination of molecular modelling and high resolution imaging of the nanotiles using atomic force microscopy to understand more deeply how DNA origami assembles and what governs their geometric and mechanical properties.

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