CHE 598 Seminar: DNA Nanofabrication: Exploring Design-Property Relationships in Engineering Self-Assembly

About the event

SPEAKER:
Dr. Jacob Majikes, Research Scientist, Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology

BIOGRAPHY:
Jacob Majikes is a Research Scientist in the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He received his B.S. and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from North Carolina State University. His doctoral research focused on probing the folding/assembly of DNA origami nanostructures and he is currently working with Alex Liddle to develop metrics to quantify their yield. Jacob also develops tutorial documentation for DNA origami, co-organizes the international Foundations of Nanoscience (FNANO) conference, and serves on the executive board of the Molecular Programming Society in its effort to make a grassroots “Art of Molecular Programming” textbook.

ABSTRACT:
Structural DNA nanotechnology uses the last century’s strides in biochemical research and commercial DNA synthesis to address nanoscale engineering, physics, and biological challenges. Its capabilities are particularly useful for probing spatial organization in biology, and in engineered biosensing. However, despite steps towards commercial viability and a rich biophysical understanding of DNA, it is less well understood as a nanoengineering material. How the design of DNA nanostructures affects their assembly and yield, as mediated by the thermodynamics of DNA hybridization, are not well understood. Building such an understanding is difficult as DNA nanostructures present a nearly infinite design space in which ~200+ multivalent DNA strands participate in ~600+ preprogrammed hybridization reactions whose energetic cooperativity determines the yield of the desired product. This talk will summarize our understanding of design for DNA nanofabrication and my work to advance that understanding, emphasizing efforts to improve the thermodynamic measurements of the constituent hybridization reactions and the yield measurements of full DNA origami systems.