A team of researchers from the Mirkin Group at Northwestern University's International Institute for Nanotechnology in collaboration with the University of Michigan and the Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials- CIC biomaGUNE, unveils a novel methodology to engineer colloidal quasicrystals using DNA-modified building blocks. Their study is published in the journal Nature Materials under the title "Colloidal Quasicrystals Engineered with DNA."
Characterized by ordered yet non-repeating patterns, quasicrystals have long perplexed scientists. "The existence of quasicrystals has been a puzzle for decades and their discovery appropriately was awarded with a Nobel Prize," said Chad Mirkin, the study's lead researcher.
"Although there are now several known examples, discovered in nature or through serendipitous routes, our research demystifies their formation and more importantly shows how we can harness the programmable nature of DNA to design and assemble quasicrystals deliberately."
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