But researchers need to work with much larger
Using a DNA-binding protein called RecA as a kind of nanoscale rebar, or reinforcing bar, to support the floppy DNA scaffolding, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have constructed several of the largest rectangular, linear and other shapes ever assembled from DNA. The structures can be two to three times larger than those built using standard DNA self-assembly techniques.
In addition, because the new method requires fewer chemically distinct pieces to build organized structures than the standard technique, known as DNA origami, it is likely to reduce the number of errors in constructing the shapes. That's a big plus for the effort to produce reliable DNA-based devices in large quantities, said NIST researcher Alex Liddle.
Although RecA's ability to bind to double-stranded DNA has been known for years, the NIST team is the first to integrate filaments of this protein into the assembly of DNA structures. The addition of RecA offers a particular advantage: Once one unit of the protein binds to a small segment of double-stranded DNA, it automatically attracts other units to line up alongside it, in the same way that bar magnets will join end-to-end. Like bricks filling out a foundation, RecA lines the entire length of the DNA strand, stretching, widening and strengthening it. A floppy, 2-nanometer-wide strand of DNA can transform into a rigid structure more than four times as wide.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-protein-rebar-error-free-nanostructures.html#jCp
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