Jorgen Kjems and Ebbe Andersen with 12 other researchers in Denmark and Germany have made a box out of DNA as a structural material -- so-called DNA origami. This is a box that is 30-40 nanometers on a side!
Plus it has a lid that opens!
This may not be worth a Nobel prize but it is a fascinating achievement. The fact that it has a latch and someone can put something inside seems secondary.
This shows how the DNA was folded. The structure self-assembles.
The DNA was from an M13MP18 bacteriophage that was folded into sheets. The sheets were held together with "staple" strands into a cuboid shape. This is described in Paul Ruthermund's Nature paper. Then it was heat annealed to keep it from coming apart. See my next post for more on DNA origami.
Plus it has a lid that opens!
This may not be worth a Nobel prize but it is a fascinating achievement. The fact that it has a latch and someone can put something inside seems secondary.
This shows how the DNA was folded. The structure self-assembles.
The DNA was from an M13MP18 bacteriophage that was folded into sheets. The sheets were held together with "staple" strands into a cuboid shape. This is described in Paul Ruthermund's Nature paper. Then it was heat annealed to keep it from coming apart. See my next post for more on DNA origami.
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