Molecular engineers have become increasingly adept at repurposing life's
building blocks to make custom self-assembled shapes. Because a single drop of
solution contains billions of such shapes, DNA origami smiley faces (1), RNA stars (2), and designer protein
polyhedra (3) may vastly
outnumber most other human-made objects on Earth. These shapes lack immediate
practical utility, but they transmit a powerful message: Researchers are
beginning to understand how molecules self-assemble. On page 1283 of this issue,
Praetorius and Dietz make another leap forward by demonstrating a novel class of
nanostructures, namely DNA-protein hybrid shapes (4). This is an important advance because it
provides a method to create human-designed shapes out of ingredients that are
generally compatible with living systems.
Author: Shawn M. Douglas