Self-assembling Quasi-crystals from DNA Tiles

非技术：该奖项由亚利桑那州立大学材料研究部生物材料项目颁发，将使用DNA纳米结构研究准晶体的形成方式。准晶体是具有长程有序但不具有周期性的结构。2011年，诺贝尔化学奖授予了一位科学家，他发现了一种非常独特的晶体，彻底改变了我们对固体物质的看法。准晶体的发现导致了材料科学的范式转变，这是轻描淡写的。大多数晶体是原子的精确三维排列，它们以一种非常有序的方式无限重复。然而，准晶体不同于其他晶体；它们有完美有序的无限模式，永远不会重复。由于其独特的排列方式，准晶体材料具有特殊的性能，可以用于日常用品，如涡轮叶片、不粘锅、手术器械和LED灯。该基金支持从DNA纳米结构构建自组装准晶体材料的研究。pi将使用DNA纳米结构来研究准晶体是如何形成的，以及它们的结构如何导致独特而有用的性质和行为。这些信息最终将用于为各种应用创造新的和有用的生物材料。这项研究除了对基础科学发现的明显价值外，还将产生社会影响——它将为本科生、研究生和少数族裔学生参与前沿研究和创新创造机会。技术方面：本基金支持利用合理设计的DNA纳米结构构建自组装准晶体材料的研究。准晶体是具有长程有序但不具有周期性的结构。尽管可能会出现独特和潜在有用的特性，但经过三十年的研究，对合成和自然产生的准晶体及其形成机制知之甚少。人造DNA准晶体的创建将使准晶体生长机制的发现成为可能，并为组织具有独特性质和集体行为的功能材料提供了新的平台。该平台将允许pi达到自然界中不存在的结构复杂性水平，从而为工程新型生物材料创造前所未有的机会。该项目将为本科生、研究生和未被充分代表的少数民族学生创造新的前沿研究机会，并通过数学、科学、工程和技术领域的全面在线大众指导，为当地高中生和教师提供暑期研究机会。

Non-technical: This award by the Biomaterials Program in the Division of Materials Research to Arizona State University will use DNA nanostructures to study how quasi-crystals form. Quasi-crystals are structures that exhibit long-range order but are not periodic. In 2011 the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to a scientist who discovered a type of crystal so unique that it completely changed the way that we view solid matter. That the discovery of quasi-crystals has led to a paradigm shift in material science is an understatement. Most crystals are precise three dimensional arrangements of atoms that repeat infinitely in a very ordered way. However, quasi-crystals are unlike other crystals; they have perfectly ordered infinite patterns that never repeat. As a result of their unique arrangement, quasicrystalline materials have special properties that have found use in everyday objects such as turbine blades, non-stick frying pans, and surgical instruments and LED lights. This grant supports research to construct self-assembled quasi-crystal materials from DNA nanostructures. The PIs will use DNA nanostructures to study how quasicrystals form, and how their structure leads to unique and useful properties and behavior. This information will ultimately be used to create new and useful biomaterials for a variety of applications. This research will have societal implications beyond the obvious value to basic scientific discovery - it will create opportunities to engage undergraduate, graduate, and underrepresented minority students to participate in cutting edge research and innovation.Technical: This grant supports research to construct self-assembling quasi-crystal materials using rationally designed DNA nanostructures. Quasi-crystals are structures that exhibit long-range order but are not periodic. Despite the unique and potentially useful properties that are likely to emerge, after three decades of research very little is known about synthetic and naturally occurring quasicrystals or the mechanism of their formation. The creation of artificial DNA quasi-crystals will enable the discovery of the quasi-crystal growth mechanisms, and provide a novel platform to organize functional materials that display unique properties and collective behavior. This platform will allow the PIs to reach a level of structural complexity that does not exist in nature, thus creating unprecedented opportunities for engineering novel biomaterials. This project will create new cutting edge research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and underrepresented minority students and present summer research opportunities for local high school students and teachers through full-scale online mass-mentorship in mathematics, science, engineering and technology.