Mastering the complexity of DNA nanostructures

The self-assembly of oligodeoxynucleotides is a versatile
and powerful tool for the construction of objects in the
nanoscale. The strictly information-driven pairing ofDNA
fragments can be used to rationally design and build
nanostructures with planned topologies and geometries.
Taking advantage of the steadily expanding library of
well-characterized DNA motifs, several examples of
structures with different dimensionalities have appeared
in the literature in the past few years, laying the
foundations for a promising DNA-mediated, bottom-up
approach to nanotechnology. This article focuses on
recent developments in this area of research and
proposes a classification of DNA nanostructures based
on topological considerations in addition to describing
strategies for tackling the inherent complexities of such
an endeavor.