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 collaborator Hao Yan publishes the paper "Molecular robots guided by prescriptive landscapes". A molecular nanorobot dubbed a "spider" and labeled with green dyes traverses a substrate track built upon a DNA origami scaffold. It journeys towards its red-labeled goal by cleaving the visited substrates, thus exhibiting the characteristics of an autonomously moving, behavior-based robot at the molecular scale.
In the same issue of Nature DNA origami was used to create an assembly line for synthesizing gold nanoparticles.
This year’s Researchers Grand Prix (nicknamed Rock’n Research) held in Lille Vega on Tuesday 20 April was won by Kasper Jahn, PhD student at iNANO and CDNA.
In a review article in New Biotechnology Ebbe Sloth Andersen describes the computer tools available for prediction and design of DNA and RNA structures.
DNA origami box with locks and keys
May 2010: DNA nano-spider published in Nature
March 2010: Tools for prediction and design