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DNA nanotechnology, specifically, is an example of bottom-up molecular self-assembly, in which molecular components spontaneously organize into stable structures; the particular form of these structures is induced by the physical and chemical properties of the components selected by the designers. [19]
Nucleic acid design is central to the fields of DNA nanotechnology and DNA computing. [2] It is necessary because there are many possible sequences of nucleic acid strands that will fold into a given secondary structure , but many of these sequences will have undesired additional interactions which must be avoided.
Molecular models are useful in the design of structures for DNA nanotechnology. Here, individual DNA tiles (model at left) self-assemble into a highly ordered DNA 2D-nanogrid (AFM image at right). There are various uses of DNA molecular modeling in Genomics and Biotechnology research applications, from DNA repair to PCR and DNA nanostructures.
DNA computing requires that the self-assembly of the oligonucleotide strands happen in such a way that hybridization should occur in a manner compatible with the goals of computation. The field of DNA computing was established in Leonard M. Adelman's seminal paper. [1] His work is significant for a number of reasons:
Single-stranded and double-stranded versions of these materials have been created using, for example, DNA, LNA, and RNA. One- and two-dimensional forms of nucleic acids (e.g., single strands, linear duplexes, and plasmids ) (Fig. 1) are important biological machinery for the storage and transmission of genetic information .
Molecular self-assembly is a key concept in supramolecular chemistry. [6] [7] [8] This is because assembly of molecules in such systems is directed through non-covalent interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces, pi-stacking interactions, and/or electrostatic) as well as electromagnetic interactions.
The method of DNA origami was developed by Paul Rothemund at the California Institute of Technology. [6] In contrast to common top-down fabrication methods such as 3D printing or lithography which involve depositing or removing material through a tool, DNA Nanotechnology, as well as DNA Origami as a subset, is a bottom-up fabrication method.
The term has also been used to describe the hierarchical assembly of artificial nucleic acid building blocks used in DNA nanotechnology. [3] The quaternary structure of DNA refers to the formation of chromatin. Because the human genome is so large, DNA must be condensed into chromatin, which consists of repeating units known as nucleosomes.