Programmable ‘Legos’ of DNA and protein building blocks create novel 3D cages

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research)

DNA nanotechnology uses DNA molecules as programmable "Legos" to assemble nanostructures. But the structure of DNA is very simple and lacks the diversity of proteins, while the assembly of proteins is difficult to control with the precision of DNA. How about combining both DNA and proteins? Scientists have built a cage made of protein and DNA building blocks by using covalent bonds between them.