(Invited) Chapter V in “Handbook of Nanostructured Biomaterials and Their Applications in Nanobiotechnology,” Vols. 1-2 (ISBN: 1-58883-033-0), edited by Nalwa, American Scientific Publishers (2005). DNA-based Artificial Nanostructures: Fabrication, Properties, and Applications Young Sun and Ching-Hwa Kiang* Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice University 6100 Main Street - MS61, Houston, TX 77005, USA Phone: (713) 348-4130, Fax: (713) 348-4150, E-mail:
[email protected] Keywords: DNA; nanostructure; self-assembly; nanoparticle; carbon nanotube; biosensor. *To whom correspondence should be addressed:
[email protected]. 1 Table of Content 1. Introduction 2. DNA fundamentals 3. Attachment of DNA to surface 4. Fabrication of nanostructures using DNA 4.1 Nanostructures of pure DNA 4.2 DNA-based assembly of metal nanoparticles 4.3 Construction of semiconductor particle arrays using DNA 4.4 DNA-directed nanowires 4.5 DNA-functionalized carbon nanotubes 4.6 Field-transistor based on DNA 4.7 Nanofabrication using artificial DNA 5. DNA-based nanostructures as biosensors 6. Properties of DNA-linked gold nanoparticles 6.1 Aggregation of DNA-modified gold nanoparticles 6.2 Melting of DNA-linked gold nanoparticle aggregations 6.3 Effects of external variables on the melting properties 7. Conclusion 2 1. Introduction The integration of nanotechnology with biology and bioengineering is producing many advances. The essence of nanotechnology is to produce and manipulate well- defined structures on the nanometer scale with high accuracy. Conventional technologies based on the "top-down” approaches, such as the photolithographyic method, are difficult to continue to scale down due to real physical limitations including size of atoms, wavelengths of radiation used for lithography, and interconnect schemes.