DNA-based molecular nanotechnology

The use of molecular building blocks opens a new dimension for nanotechnology. Biomolecules offer a variety of possibilities for manipulation, provide a new size dimension and are especially suitable for "bottom up" approaches. Nucleic acids are of special interest due to their ability of self-organization, the achieved combinatorial information capacity and its molecular-biological processability. Here we present an approach for a molecular component systems with DNA-based elements and products that is suitable for molecular nanotechnology. Oligonucleotides thereby serve as biological modifiers of nanoparticles and surfaces to form self-assembling monolayers, and genomic DNA acts as framework for the building blocks. A first application of DNA-nanoparticle complexes could be the use as a novel, highly-stable label for chip technologies, with the potential for single-molecule detection. Another field is the fabrication of novel electronic devices, based on extreme miniaturization. This paper describes the different fields of use for DNA-based molecular modules, and presents first results of the realization of this concept.