ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on DNA as the major component for construction of relatively large nanostructures and designed materials, such as DNA-based tile arrays and DNA origami, rather than on the use of DNA as “smart glue.” The fabrication of objects on the 10–100 nm size scale is particularly challenging. The DNA needed to construct these nanostructures is synthesized de novo or harvested from natural sources and can be edited and amplified with standard biotechnology protocols and methods. Single-stranded DNA is the raw material used for construction of DNA nanostructures. It consists of DNA bases attached to 2-deoxyribose sugar units; these units are linked together through phosphodiester bonds between the 3' and 5' carbons on neighboring sugars. Holliday’s classic paper proposed a mechanism for explaining genetic recombination that involved a structure now called the “Holliday junction”. The breakthroughs in origami design have centered around improved structural understanding and design tools.
