Self-Assembly-Based Structural DNA Nanotechnology

Apart from providing the material for genetic information storage, DNA has also been regarded as a useful building block in the field of nanotechnology, which is known as DNA nanotechnology. Based on the Watson-Crick base-pairing and the famous double helical structure, a library of DNA 2D or 3D nanostructures has been designed, constructed and characterized, by either tile-based or origami- based self-assembly. More significantly, other molecules/nanomaterials can be organized on those DNA ensembles to achieve highly ordered arrays or specific patterns in nanometer spatial resolution. In this review, we summarize recent progress in creating DNA nanoarchitectures, and discuss potential applications in DNA-based nanofabrication.