Using DNA to assemble nanostructures could lead to the production of new materials with a wide range of applications, from electronics to tissue engineering. Now researchers at the Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering at the University of Arkansas, United States, have produced building blocks for such material by controlling the number, placement and orientation of DNA linkers on the surface of colloidal nanoparticles. DNA linkers are parts of nanoparticles where connection with other nanoparticles can occur. According to Jin-Woo Kim, a professor of biological engineering, “We have demonstrated a strategy to place ‘DNA linkers’ on a nanoparticle at specific angles relative to each other so that we may produce building blocks with well-defined arrangements of DNA in all dimensions. The specific number and orientation of DNA strands on the nanoparticles allow greater control over the ultimate shape of nanostructures.” The strategy involves attaching strands of DNA to functionalized nanoparticles one strand after another, instead of all at the same time. This simple and sustainable strategy results in building blocks that remain stable under volatile conditions, and such stability shows high potential for their practical application. The team continues to work on further optimizing the physical and chemical stability of the blocks. The technology, which was featured as the “hot paper” in the current issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, has the potential to transform many fields of research, including biology, medicine, chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering.