Self-Assembled DNA-Based Structures for Nanoelectronics

Abstract

Recent developments in structural DNA nanotechnology have made com-plex and spatially exactly controlled self-assembled DNA nanoarchitectureswidely accessible. The available methods enable large variety of differ-ent possible shapes combined with the possibility of using DNA structuresas templates for high-resolution patterning of nano-objects, thus openingup various opportunities for diverse nanotechnological applications. TheseDNA motifs possess enormous possibilities to be exploited in realization ofmolecular scale sensors and electronic devices, and thus, could enable fur-ther miniaturization of electronics. However, there are arguably two mainissues on making use of DNA-based electronics: (1) incorporation of indi-vidual DNA designs into larger extrinsic systems is rather challenging, and(2) electrical properties of DNA molecules and the utilizable DNA templatesthemselves, are not yet fully understood. This review focuses on the abovementioned issues and also briefly summarizes the potential applications ofDNA-based electronic devices.