Folding DNA to make new nanoscale shapes – so called DNA origami – has potential applications including in drug delivery and immobilising enzymes. The 7249 nucleotide-long M13mp18 strand is frequently used in DNA origami, but it is expensive, its long length makes it more prone to strand cleavage and it can be difficult to analyse on the molecular level.
Scientists in Germany have come up with a convenient method for making a 704 nucleotide-long fragment, which is suitable for making small origami structures, is large enough to analyse by TEM and is more affordable.
Read this HOT Nanoscale article in full today:
M1.3 – A Small Scaffold for DNA Origami
Clemens Richert, Hassan Said, Verena Schüller, Fabian Eber, Christina Wege and Tim Liedl
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR32393A
