Dana-Farber Researchers Create DNA Origami

Filed in archive Research on May 22, 2009

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a technique for folding sheets of DNA, like origami, into multilayered objects. The research was published in the May 21 issue of Nature.

"This is something that nature is very good at - making many complex machines with great control," says researcher William M. Shih. "Nature optimizes cellular technology through millions of years of evolution; we don't have that much time, so we need to come up with other design approaches."

"The researchers at Dana-Farber use double DNA strands to build their structures, and the origami forms they create may or may not resemble those created by natural cells," writes InventorSpot's T. Goodman. "Nevertheless, these fine examples of origami art, which are really just the size of a virus and only visible through a powerful electron microscope, will functionally mimic our own cellular processes, which build transport systems to carry proteins and various other elements to other cells."

More here from Wired ... and the press release is here.