| dc.description.abstract |
<p>Biological systems have inspired interest in developing artificial molecular self-assembly
techniques that imitate nature's ability to harness chemical forces to specifically
position atoms within intricate assemblies. Of the biomolecules used to mimic nature's
abilities, nucleic acids have gained special attention. Specifically, deoxyribonucleic
acid is a stable molecule with a readily accessible code that exhibits predictable
and programmable intermolecular interactions. These properties are exploited in the
revolutionary structural DNA nanotechnology method known as scaffolded DNA origami.
For DNA origami to establish itself as a widely used method for creating self-assembling,
complex, functional materials, current limitations need to be overcome and new methods
need to be established to move forward with developing structures for diverse applications
in many fields. The limitations discussed in this dissertation include 1) pushing
the scale of well-formed, fully-addressable origami to two and seven times the size
of conventional origami, 2) testing cost-effective staple strand synthesis methods
for producing pools of oligos for a specified origami, and 3) engineering mechanical
properties using non-natural nucleotides in DNA assemblies. After accomplishing the
above, we're able to design complex DNA origami structures that incorporate many of
the current developments in the field into a useful material with applicability in
wide-ranging fields, namely cell biology and photonics.</p>
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