(Phys.org)-Nanowires fashioned from DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)-one of several type of molecular nanowires incorporating repeating molecular units-are exactly that: Geometrically wire-like DNA-based nanostructures defined variously as having a 1~10 nm (10-9 m) diameter or a length-to-diameter ratio >1000. While nanowires can be made from several organic and inorganic materials, DNA nanowires have been shown to provide a range of valuable applications in programmed self-assembly1,2 of functional materials-including metallic and semiconductor nanowires for use in electronic devices-as well as biological, medical, and genetic analysis applications3,4,5. That being said, DNA nanowire adoption has been limited due to historical limitations in the ability to control their structural parameters-specifically, size, geometry and alignment. Recently, however, scientists at Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Princeton University leveraged the capillary forces of water containing DNA molecules to demonstrate size-controllable straight or undulated aligned DNA nanowires that were spontaneously formed by water entering wrinkled channels of a compressed thin skin on a soft substrate, which subsequently induced a wrinkle-to-fold transition.
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