1. From Blueprints to Bricks: The Origins of DNA Nanotechnology
Structural DNA Nanotechnology
Our research has made two key findings:
Structural DNA nanotechnology represents a new chapter in the history of thinking about DNA
DNA origami is an engineering technique that owes its emergence to the biological research of the Human Genome Project1
An electron microscope image of Paul Rothemund’s DNA origami technique. These smiley faces are nanometer-sized structures made entirely of DNA (Rothemund, 2006).
A New Way of Thinking about DNA
Since the publication of Watson and Crick’s landmark article in 1953, scientists have emphasized the information-carrying capacity of DNA over its structure. The Human Genome Project signaled the pinnacle of scientists’ efforts to crack the “code of life”. Structural DNA nanotechnologists, however, conceive of DNA as a molecule whose structure follows simple rules. Consideration of the structural properties of DNA allowed for the creation of a new multi-disciplinary research field.
The Human Genome Project and Nanotechnology
Both scientists and historians of science recognize the importance of technological advances to the success of the Human Genome Project. One of the technologies to emerge from that project was the DNA synthesizer. This machine allowed for the creation of custom-made strands of DNA. The structural DNA nanotechnology research community use this machine for its structures. This suggests that DNA nanotechnology is both an outgrowth of the Human Genome Project and a research field bolstered by the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
Brian Tyrrell, “Blueprints and Bricks: DNA and the Origins of the DNA Nanotechnology Community” (presentation, History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 6-9, 2014); Patrick McCray and Brian Tyrrell, “Artifice or Application? Unfolding a History of DNA Nanotechnology” (presentation, Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 20-23).