2022/06/02 by Pepijn G. Moerman, Moerman, Pepijn G., Thomas E. Videbæk +6 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques #DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry #FOS: Physical sciences #RNA Interference and Gene Delivery #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2206.00952
openalex publication_date 2022/06/02 · openalex created_date 2022/06/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
DNA-coated colloids can crystallize into a multitude of lattices, ranging from face-centered cubic to diamond and thereby contribute to our understanding of crystallization and open avenues to producing structures with useful photonic properties. Despite the broad potential design space of DNA-coated colloids, the design cycle for synthesizing DNA-coated particles is slow: preparing a particle with a new type of DNA sequence takes more than one day and requires custom-made and chemically modified DNA that typically takes the supplier over a month to synthesize. Here, we introduce a method to generate particles with custom sequences from a single feed stock in under an hour at ambient conditions. Our method appends new DNA domains onto the DNA grafted to colloidal particles based on a template that takes the supplier less than a week to produce. The resultant particles crystallize as readily and at the same temperature as those produced via direct chemical synthesis. Moreover, we show that particles coated with a single sequence can be converted into a variety of building blocks with differing specificities by appending different DNA sequences to them. This approach to DNA-coated particle preparation will make it practical to identify optimal and complex particle sequence designs and to expand the use of DNA-coated colloids to a much broader range of investigators and commercial entities.