July 23, 2015 | By Simon

Among some of the more exciting developments that we’ve been seeing in additive manufacturing involve the creation of structures that you can’t even see at all - in the form of nanoscale assemblies.  Whether its for medical use or for other scientific purposes, the ability to create custom objects using additive manufacturing methods at the nanoscale is allowing experts to manipulate objects at even the smallest levels.  

More recently, a group of scientists have developed a new automated method to fold DNA strands into custom complex 3D structures including a bunny profile. The new results will help pave the way for DNA nanotechnology in medicine over the next 10 years.  The complex structures are less than 50 nanometres wide and have been produced as part of a new study published this week in the journal Nature.

Also referred to as DNA origami, DNA folding is the process of encouraging DNA to fold itself into a predetermined two-dimensional or three-dimensional structure.  In order to do so, scientists use the natural properties of a DNA double helix, where each of the four bases (A, T, C, and G) are attracted to another base to create a complimentary pair.  Through setting up multiple attachments of shorter DNA strands to longer DNA strands, scientists are able to form customized structures.  

Although DNA origami has been around for awhile, it hasn’t been until recently where new methods have opened up different possibilities for fine-tuning the folding process through automation - an important step for the near future of nanoscale 3D printing.

“We’ve developed a new slim lined method to fold DNA strands into more complex structures than previous attempts,” says Björn Högberg, a senior lecturer at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, and head of the research group behind the new study.

“We use the same principles as 3D printing to design the DNA structure, and most importantly we have shown that these designs work in real life, by developing some examples in the laboratory.”

For the study, the researchers used design software to draw complex shapes including a bunny, a waving humanoid and a bottle.  Once the 3D shapes had been completed, the researchers then used custom algorithms to plan a DNA scaffolding that would ultimately form the designed 3D object - such as a bunny.  In order to actually ‘print’ the DNA, researchers ran their algorithms and combined them with ideal temperature conditions that assembled the 3D objects.  For the study, the researchers used manufactured DNA from viruses as a building material.    

“We take the paradigm of 3D printing to construct a method to go from a mesh designed in the computer, and use a new algorithm to simulate a design in DNA that looks like this mesh,” explains Högberg.

“The trick is to make more complicated structures, whilst using as little DNA as possible, which is where the algorithm really helps.”

The researchers chose a bunny shape (also known as the Stanford Bunny) to publicly demonstrate the technology because of its widespread use as a test model for various 3D technologies, however they were also able to successfully 3D print other shapes during their trials, too.      

“Perhaps the most important part of our research is that we have implemented this in reality,” said Högberg.

“It’s not just that we have a useful computer algorithm, but we have a real method to produce more complex DNA structures. And we show this by successfully folding a bunch of DNA, very precisely, into the desired shapes.”

Of course, an exciting new 3D technology is only as powerful as its potential for real-world applications.  Among other applications for the automated DNA folding process include helping researchers develop nanoscale structures for targeted drug delivery or for further learning about how cells communicate with each other in the body

“The cells in our bodies communicate by adding proteins onto their surfaces, and the neighbouring cells have receptors to detect these proteins … you can think of it like braille reading for the blind, but instead of reading by dots, the cells read by these nanoscale protein clusters on neighbouring cells,” added Högberg.

“We are right now developing our own artificial clusters, using similar DNA-nanostructures presented in this research, and these structures will be a guide for developing future research, including drug delivery systems, possibly in the next 5 to 10 years.”

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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