Self-assembling nanostructures of DNA — a biotechnologist's dream

Wouldn't it be great if we could get computer chips to grow on trees? Or at least use the specific bonds of DNA molecules to get nanostructures to grow themselves right in the test tube? This technology could be used to build everything from tiny electronics components to machines that sequence DNA. "The method we have developed for self-assembling blocks of DNA and gold particles can be used, for instance, to produce tiny nano carriers for drugs that can be emptied directly in cells on a given chemical signal." They have also taken a close look at a method for building nanostructures with the help of DNA that was invented by a a US researcher in the spring of 2006. The method is called 'DNA origami' and involves, in brief, folding or splicing together a long string of DNA with the aid of a large number of short strings (''staple DNA'). "This technology could be used to construct a facility for extremely rapid DNA sequencing, which is a biotechnologist's dream."