DNA Origamis consist of desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which can form accurately predefined two- and three-dimensional nanostructures in a molecular self-assembly process. The method is based on the formation of hydrogen bonds between complementary single-stranded DNA sequences, which leads to a specific hybridization.
The size of these nanostructures is in the range of a few to a few hundred nanomenters.
Since synthetic DNA oligonucleotides can easily be modified, DNA origamis can be considered as molecular breadboards: They can be used to position a multitude of molecules like dyes, small proteins or nanoparticles with nanometer precision in three dimensions.
