Photoresponsive Self‐Assembled DNA Nanomaterials: Design, Working Principles, and Applications

Abstract Photoresponsive DNA nanomaterials represent a new class of remarkable functional materials. By adjusting the irradiation wavelength, light intensity, and exposure time, various photocontrolled DNA‐based systems can be reversibly or irreversibly regulated in respect of their size, shape, conformation, movement, and dissociation/association. This Review introduces the most updated progress in the development of photoresponsive DNA‐based system and emphasizes their advantages over other stimuli‐responsive systems. Their design and mechanisms to trigger the photoresponses are shown and discussed. The potential application of these photon‐responsive DNA nanomaterials in biology, biomedicine, materials science, nanophotonic and nanoelectronic are also covered and described. The challenges faced and further directions of the development of photocontrolled DNA‐based systems are also highlighted.