[Mon. 9 Jan. 2017] Prof. Sungwook Woo/Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, USA

“Programmable molecular studies enabled by DNA nanotechnology”
 
 
Life is the result of molecular programs, written and stored in the form of genetic code in DNA and copied through generations. DNA nanotechnology exploits the programming power of DNA to build artificial nanostructures, molecular computers, and nanomachines. In this talk, I will present a few examples of DNA nanotechnology tools that enable programmable studies in molecular sciences. First, I will discuss a study that addressed the fundamental question of whether one can create diverse bond types out of a single kind of attractive interaction. I will present our approach based on the geometric arrangement of stacking interactions between DNA blunt-ends. I will also show that the approach can be used to allow large-scale self-assembly of DNA nanostructures. Second, I will describe custom DNA nanostructure seeds for programmable growth of microtubule structures. The goal is to reconstitute, in vitro, non-canonical microtubule structures such as doublets and triplets, for mechanistic understanding of their formation and regulation relevant to diseases. Third, I will present a dynamic DNA system for recording spatial and temporal organizations of molecular complexes. A swarm of molecular probes were designed to roam around and record molecular arrangements in a massively parallel manner, collectively allowing us to reconstruct the global molecular landscapes. DNA nanotechnology enables new possibilities across many areas in fundamental and practical research, by providing highly customizable tools with programmable geometry or dynamic properties.

Prof. Sungwook Woo

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, USA