ABSTRACT
DNA display, a project for the BioMod 2013 competition, was developed as collaboration between the Self-Assembly Lab, the Little Devices Lab, the Gehrke Lab and Autodesk. This project continues a line of research into programmable materials whereby DNA acts as a visual and computational medium. Digital design tools are emerging which allow anyone to design with DNA for functional 2D and 3D structures. Synthetic biology and DNA nanotechnology are rapidly expanding fields and becoming a new opportunity for designers in both creative and scientific realms. Acting like "smart ink," this project utilized DNA by designing the patterns of binding, interactions and transitions from one printed image to another. In a similar manner, DNA can act as a custom sensor or diagnostic tool to transform a drawing based on fluctuating environments. When the complementary DNA sequence was washed across, the patterns emerged to show sensing and programmable transformation.
