Poster abstracts
Poster number 119 submitted by Wolfgang Pfeifer
From Waste to Wonder: Recycling DNA for Eco-Friendly Nanostructure Fabrication
Michael Neuhoff (The Ohio State University), Yuchen Wang (The Ohio State University), Nicholas Vantangoli (The Ohio State University), Michael Poirier (The Ohio State University), Carlos Castro (The Ohio State University), Wolfgang Pfeifer (The Ohio State University)
Abstract:
DNA Nanotechnology has great promise and potential in multiple fields, including biomedical applications (gene editing, targeted drug delivery, biosensing, vaccine platforms), nanofabrication, and biophysical probing. However, current production pipelines lead to single-use devices and utilize only a fraction of initial reactants, resulting in highly wasteful production and process. Here, we present two complementary approaches to overcome these limitations. First, we demonstrate reprogramming entire DNA Origami nanostructures into new devices, allowing re-use of scaffold-strands. We validate this approach by fabricating DNA origami structures with complex free-form geometries and reprogramming them into each other, using their distinct geometry to verify successful recycling of the scaffold strand. We then reprogram one DNA origami structure into a dynamic DNA device with known dynamic behavior and find that both, pristine and recycled structures, display similar properties. Second, we generate DNA nanostructures with fully recycled staple strands that are recovered post-assembly and find these structures retain their geometry and dynamic properties. Finally, we demonstrate the combination of both approaches, successfully realizing DNA origami structures solely from recycled DNA components.
Keywords: DNA origami, Sustainable Fabrication, Nanostructures