CDNA 2009

Welcome

Centre for DNA Nanotechnology (CDNA) is a centre of excellence funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (Danmarks Grundforskningsfond).
 
The center is based at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) at Aarhus University, Denmark, in close collaboration with two research groups at Duke University, USA and Arizona State University, USA.  The purpose of the centre is to conduct basic research within the field of DNA Nanotechnology and we have gathered an interdisciplinary team of around 35 researchers and students from chemistry, physics and molecular biology.

We exploit the self-assembling capability of oligonucleotides to study and control the assembly of materials at the nanoscale.  This research ranges from assembly of nucleotide derivatives on surfaces, DNA-directed chemistry and DNA-based sensors to formation of complex DNA nanostructures and the interactions of such structures with biological systems. Among the key competences present at the center for the formation and characterization of such structures are synthetic organic chemistry, molecular biology, and scanning probe microscopy. 

Examples on the contributions from CDNA since its establishment in 2007 are:  self-assembly of DNA bases on surfaces studied by STM (Science 2008), development of the first RNA aptamer-based electrochemical senor (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008), synthesis and assembly of or molecular rods along the axis of DNA (Angew. Chem. 2008), development of a software package for design of DNA Origami (ACS Nano 2008, the software is freely available at this home page) and recently we reported on the folding of a viral DNA sequence into a box with a controllable lid (Nature 2009). 

Thank you for visiting our homepage and if you have further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.
 
Kurt Gothelf 

Director of CDNA
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


DGF         


Comments on content: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 
 
     
     
 
 

DNA origami box with locks and keys

The DNA 'origami' method was extended into 3D to create an addressable DNA box on the nanometre scale that can be opened by externally supplied DNA 'keys'. The study appeared online in Nature, May 6, 2009:

 
 

CDNA news

January 27, 2010

Professor Kurt Gothelf receives the EliteForsk award

Professor Kurt Vestager Gothelf, Department of Chemistry and iNANO, and director the of the CDNA center, recieves one of five EliteForsk (elite researcher) awards from the Minestry of Science, Technology and innovations.

Press release

EliteForsk link (in Danish)

 

December 18, 2009

"The Nano box" elected as the top Danish research result of 2009 

The Danish engineering journal, Ingeniøren, has elected the DNA nano-box as the research breakthrough of the year 2009 for science and technology. In May 2009, researchers from CDNA, iNANO and University of Göttingen published an article in the journal Nature that described the design and production of the smallest box in the world.

News link at AU

 

July 2, 2009

Chemical coupling on DNA 4-Helix Bundles 

The Gothelf group publishes a joint paper with Hao Yan at ASU in Bioconjugate Chemistry. The study describes the distance dependent interhelical coupling of organic rods incorporated in DNA 4-helix bundles.

Article link