ABSTRACT

Research in nanotechnology revolves around the manipulation, modication, engineering, and assembly of materials on the nanometer scale. In recent years, RNA has become an increasingly useful tool for nanotechnological applications (Guo et al. 1998; Shu et al. 2003, 2004; Hansma et al. 2003; Guo 2010). RNA molecules can be designed and constructed much like DNA while possessing both structure and function similar to proteins. The term RNA nanotechnology was coined nearly 15 years ago (Guo et al. 1998; Zhang et al. 1998; Jaeger and Leontis 2000; Jaeger et al. 2001; Shu et al. 2004; Chworos et al. 2004; Guo 2005, 2010; Jaeger and Chworos 2006). Over the past few years, the eld of RNA nanotechnology has grown signicantly as a result of the development of RNA nanoparticles useful for the treatment of viral infection, genetic diseases, and cancer (Guo 2010).