SoylentNews

takyon writes:

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have found a way to assemble DNA nanostructures without a water-based solvent:

[They discovered] that adding a small amount of water to their solvent increases the assembly rate and provides a new means for controlling the process. The solvent may also facilitate the production of more complex structures by reducing the problem of DNA becoming trapped in unintended structures.

The research could open up new applications for DNA nanotechnology, and help apply DNA technology to the fabrication of nanoscale semiconductor and plasmonic structures.

"DNA nanotechnology structures are getting more and more complex, and this solvent could help researchers that are working in this growing field," said Nicholas Hud, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "With this work, we have shown that DNA nanostructures can be assembled in a water-free solvent, and that we can mix water with the same solvent to speed up the assembly. We can also take the structures that were assembled in this solvent mixed with water – remove the water by applying vacuum – and have the DNA structures remain intact in the water-free solvent."

The assembly rate of DNA nanostructures can be very slow, and depends strongly on temperature. Raising the temperature increases this rate, but temperatures that are too high can cause the DNA structures to fall apart. The solvent system developed at Georgia Tech adds a new level of control over DNA assembly. DNA structures assemble at lower temperatures in this solvent, and adding water can adjust the solvent's viscosity, which allows for faster assembly compared to the water-free version of the solvent.

"This solvent changes the rules," said Isaac Gállego, a postdoctoral researcher in Hud's lab and the paper's first author. "We now have a tool that controls DNA assembly kinetics and thermodynamics all in one solvent. This solvent also offers enhanced properties for nanotechnology and for the stability of these nanomaterials in solution."