From DNA Tiles to Functional DNA Materials

Ever more complex and ever larger DNA nanostructures are being assembled. Today, DNA architectures easily reach macroscopic dimensions while the structure emerges from molecular design. DNA production cost can potentially drop orders of magnitude, opening the door to material applications. Rationally designed crystalline assemblies of DNA motifs and DNA nanostructures reach new heights. Over the past few decades, DNA has turned into one of the most widely used molecular linkers and a versatile building block for the self-assembly of DNA nanostructures. Such complexes, composed of only a few oligonucleotides (e.g., DNA tiles) or assembled from hundreds of synthetic and natural scaffolding strands (e.g., DNA origami), are being increasingly assembled into higher-order architectures such as lattices and crystals. A wide variety of assembly methods and techniques (e.g., solution-phase and substrate-assisted sticky-ended cohesion or blunt-end stacking) have emerged and are constantly being refined. This review provides a summary of the methods and building blocks for the assembly of 2D and 3D DNA lattices and crystals, and discusses some of their potential applications in materials science. Over the past few decades, DNA has turned into one of the most widely used molecular linkers and a versatile building block for the self-assembly of DNA nanostructures. Such complexes, composed of only a few oligonucleotides (e.g., DNA tiles) or assembled from hundreds of synthetic and natural scaffolding strands (e.g., DNA origami), are being increasingly assembled into higher-order architectures such as lattices and crystals. A wide variety of assembly methods and techniques (e.g., solution-phase and substrate-assisted sticky-ended cohesion or blunt-end stacking) have emerged and are constantly being refined. This review provides a summary of the methods and building blocks for the assembly of 2D and 3D DNA lattices and crystals, and discusses some of their potential applications in materials science.