Building nanoplanets in Nature Nanotechnology

The guys over at Nature have either got themselves some really big nanoparticles, or a really tiny desk… On this desk lies a tube of DNA: The All Purpose Adhesive, apparently. Surely DNA’s main purpose is to encode life and all the wonders that brings with it. But the latest cover from Nature Nanotechnology would have you believe otherwise.

 

DNA Mechano kit

Is this a glimpse into the future of nanotechnology or mere science fiction? Nanoparticles that we can construct just as easily as any Ikea flat pack or DIY project? DNA in a tube? The illustration shows us a box full of potential building blocks, much like an old Mechano kit, ready to be ransacked by curious children. Rods of different lengths, shiny silver balls and odd little stripy green and blue particles overflow the tool box and invite a creative mind to get building. A few new creations have been left out on the table for us to inspect or possibly the authors have not yet cleared away their Christmas decorations. 

The blueprints on this front cover are really nice touch. Designs for the structure of a nucleotide sequence as well as a DNA origami scheme are shown, reminding us all of the importance of good planning. More chemists should keep notes on blueprints, much more fun than an old lab book.

But what about that tube of DNA. That vital component. That all purpose adhesive. The tube says that the glue is both permanent and adjustable, surely making it the wonder material of the future. Maybe one day DNA assembly will indeed be as simple as squeezing some out of a bottle and adding the components you want. At the current rate of progress in this field, I wouldn’t bet against it.

Nano nano nano

The actual article demonstrates another step forward in DNA technology. The team from Munich have combined the well-known self-assembly of DNA with quantum dots, metal nanoparticles and organic dyes to form a range of nanoclusters. They demonstrated a new level of control over the size and positioning of the structures, using DNA strands to precisely arrange components over a 200 nm scale. The new assemblies were deemed to have a “planet-satellite-type structure”, which made me wonder why they didn’t go for some outer space themed cover art. However, the use of nanoplanets made with nanoglue may have resulted in these heavenly bodies exploding from buzzword overload. 

Opening lines

My PhD thesis was submitted back in September. Then two months later, after almost forgetting everything I had done in the previous four years, I faced my viva. I felt a combination of a little bit of panic, a little bit of calm, a little bit of self-doubt and a little bit of over confidence. This mix left me feeling happy with what I had produced and only hoped that my examiners would be happy too.

In the end, it turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable encounter, with compliments from the examiners on my titles and images at the start of each chapter. All those hours spent playing on ChemDraw and Pymol were not wasted after all. I like to go for grand sweeping statements and so my introduction was entitled,
"From the wilds of Nature to the confines of the lab".

The opening few paragraphs of my thesis introduction are shown below. It is pretty general to begin with as I wanted to write it so that anybody would be able to come along and pick up this volume and have a chance at understanding something before their brain started to hurt...

   "Taking a minute to think about the great variety of life on this planet can only leave you with a feeling of awe. The multitude of complex and beautiful forms that have covered our world seem to be innumerable in their differences. On the nanoscale these differences can become even more apparent. Even within a single species many different tissues are present and each may comprise many different types of cell.

   There is structure to everything. On every scale a new level of appreciation can be found, from the straight, solid trunks of huge redwood trees, to the flexible muscle tissue allowing our movement and to the delicate, helical DNA that encodes all existence. The huge variety of natural structures is easy to see around us and on the nanoscale bioarchitecture can be just as impressive.

   It took billions of years for the natural universe to be shaped around us, yet it is only in the last hundred years or so that humans have truly began to understand the fundamental principles that hold this world together. We are starting to better understand the complex mechanisms that govern how all these systems interact and scientists can now use this information to change and add to what nature has already created.

   A central goal of synthetic biology is to learn from nature and take inspiration. This knowledge can then be used to create bioinspired and novel artificial architectures and systems that meet our needs, demands and are limited only by our own imagination."

When checking over this, my supervisor wrote in the margin, "Camera pans out to reveal Tom standing on top of mountain. Roll credits..." Did anybody else try to go for something general or grand or just stick to the technical stuff for their thesis? I didn't hide anything funny in the text, like Labsolutely, but I managed to reference a YouTube video that I'm in and my very first reference was a tweet.