Seminar: DNA Nanotechnology: From Manufacturing to Nanomachinery

Abstract

DNA is one of the most essential elements in life as it carries genetic information. The ability to process the information may also be exploited to translate DNA into an engineering material. This talk will show how molecular information may be harnessed and programmed into nanoscale structures and mechanical machinery.

A synthetic molecular motor from DNA that transports nanoparticle cargos along single-wall carbon nanotubes will be discussed. This DNA walker moves autonomously and unidirectionally by converting chemical energy into mechanical motion through a series of conformation changes. This nanomechanical system is reminiscent of motor protein kinesin that transports intracellular cargos along microtubules in eukaryotic cells. Introduced will be visible/near-infrared super-resolution microscopy which reveals the mechanics and stochastic nature of motor operation. Purdue's mechanistic study provides design principles for efficient DNA walkers. This talk will also include new strategies for enhancing versatility of DNA motors. DNA walking may be engineered with external photo-irradiation and on a two-dimensional landscape toward collective motion studies. The talk will be concluded with several exemplary applications.

About the speaker

Jong Hyun Choi is an associate professor in mechanical wngineering at Purdue University. He received his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Yonsei University, and earned his doctoral degree, also in mechanical engineering, in 2005 from the University of California at Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral research with Prof. Michael Strano in chemical engineering at MIT before joining Purdue. He is an NSF CAREER award winner and an ASME fellow. His research focuses on understanding thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanics of DNA-based materials and devices for various engineering applications.

Hosted by Professor Hanna Cho.