Paul Rothemund has discovered that it is possible to shape M13-Phage single-strand-DNA simply adding oligonucleotides that will work as „brackets“ when complementing the long single-strand. In this way, one can generate for example DNA-squares of a certain size with „nods“ at certain distances.
One member of our team, Daniel Hautzinger, has recently finished his diploma-thesis on Origami-DNA and the possibilities of generating patterns on these square surfaces by modifying the Oligo-nucleotides that build up the nod-points.