
DNA origami - lelf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_origami
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iokevins
To save you a click, the definition:

"DNA origami is the nanoscale folding of DNA to create non-arbitrary two- and
three-dimensional shapes at the nanoscale. The specificity of the interactions
between complementary base pairs make DNA a useful construction material,
through design of its base sequences. DNA is a well-understood material that
is suitable for creating scaffolds that hold other molecules in place or to
create structures all on its own.

DNA origami was the cover story of Nature on March 16, 2006. Since then, DNA
origami has progressed past an art form and has found a number of applications
from drug delivery systems to uses as circuitry in plasmonic devices; however,
most applications remain in a concept or testing phase."

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dekhn
... and they will continue to remain in concept or testing phase for the
foreseeable future. Which is unfortunate, but a reality of how drugs and drug
delivery systems are brought to market.

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sndean
From the secondhand experience of my friends, using DNA nanocages to delivery
anything other than really simple cargo hasn't worked very well (all in
vitro). Which is good enough, if that's all you want to deliver.

They're really interesting though.

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yorteiler
Why would the type of cargo matter? If it can deliver simple cargo, can't you
stick any type of molecules inside as long as they don't damage the cage?

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akiselev
"Hold them in place" is a bit misleading. The molecules in most nanocages
generally still react with the nanocage through specifically designed binding
sites that actually hold it in place. This means a nanocage is hard to design
for nontrivial molecules like folded proteins and it's usually not a perfect
cage that completely envelops the target. A lot of stuff is still bound to
react with the nanocage and the material inside until it can reach its
destination and the cage unfolds.

