Self-assembly of two- dimensional DNA crystals
Self-assembly of two-dimensional DNA crystals

Self-assembly of synthetic oligonucleotides intotwo-dimensional lattices presents a ‘bottom-up‘ approach tothe fabrication of devices on nanometer scale. We report thedesign and observation of two-dimensional crystalline formsof DNAs that are composed of twenty-one plane oligonucleo-tides and one phosphate-modified oligonucleotide. Thesesynthetic sequences are designed to self-assemble into fourdouble-crossover (DX) DNA tiles. The ‘sticky ends‘ of thesetiles that associate according to Watson-Crick‘s base pairingare programmed to build up specific periodic patterns uptotens of microns. The patterned crystals are visualized by thetransmission electron microscopy.