Researchers fabricate DNA strands on a reusable chip, fold them into novel nanostructures
Monday, October 31, 2011 - 10:01
in Biology & Nature
In the emerging field of synthetic biology, engineers use biological building blocks, such as snippets of DNA, to construct novel technologies. One of the key challenges in the field is finding a way to quickly and economically synthesize the desired DNA strands. Now scientists from Duke University have fabricated a reusable DNA chip that may help address this problem by acting as a template from which multiple batches of DNA building blocks can be photocopied. The researchers have used the device to create strands of DNA which they then folded into unique nanoscale structures. They will present their findings at the AVS Symposium, held Oct. 30 Nov. 4, in Nashville, Tennessee.