Robust Design of Compliant DNA Origami Mechanisms

DNA折纸机制是由脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)生物材料制成的纳米级机械装置。相比之下，人类的头发大约有8万到10万纳米宽。通过所谓的DNA碱基配对过程进行自我组装，这些微小机械装置的运动可以被控制，以完成类似于宏观世界中的机器和机器人的任务。这项技术有可能给医学带来革命性的变化，或者减少制造过程中的资源消耗和环境污染。例如，DNA纳米机器人可能被用于纳米制造、生物反应器中的分子传输、靶向癌细胞进行药物输送，甚至用于修复受损的组织。然而，由于溶液中显著的热波动、分子自组装过程中的随机误差以及材料和结构性质的变化，这些纳米机构的运动非常难以控制。该奖项支持通过借鉴宏观顺应机构设计开发一种新的稳健设计方法来应对这些挑战的基础研究。这项研究产生的计算设计工具将使我们能够有效地设计出更精确可控的DNA纳米机器，并可用于医学以改善公众健康。最近将运动学机构原理应用于DNA折纸纳米机构设计的成功，为量化和管理这些机构的机械行为带来了新的重大挑战。该奖项的目标是为顺应的DNA折纸机构开发一个强大的设计框架，以改进运动控制并实现DNA纳米结构的更广泛的机械行为。该设计框架包括常用柔顺关节的综合、拟刚体模型、动静分析、综合算法以及基于统计理论的不确定性量化和管理方法。这项研究产生的计算工具和实验过程将使：(A)设计具有更广泛机械行为范围的DNA折纸机构，(B)表征这些纳米机构的特性，以及(C)DNA折纸结构的不确定性量化和管理。

DNA origami mechanisms are nanometer scale mechanical devices that are made of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) biological materials. For comparison, a human hair is approximately 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide. Self-assembled via the so called DNA base-pairing process, the motion of these tiny mechanisms can be controlled to accomplish a task similar to machines and robots in the macro world. This technique has the potential to revolutionize medicine or reduce resource consumption and environmental pollution in manufacturing processes. For example, DNA nano-robots could potentially be used for nano-manufacturing, for molecular transport in bioreactors, for targeting cancer cells for drug delivery, or even for repairing damaged tissue. However, the motion of these nano-mechanisms is extremely difficult to control due to significant thermal fluctuation in solution, random errors in the molecular self-assembly process, and variation in material and structure properties. This award supports the fundamental research to address these challenges by developing a novel robust-design methodology borrowed from macroscopic compliant-mechanism design. The computational design tools resulting from this research will enable us to effectively design DNA nano-machines that are more accurately controllable, and that can be used in medicine for improving public health.Recent success in applying kinematic mechanism principles in design of DNA origami nano-mechanisms has now opened new significant challenges in quantifying and managing the mechanical behavior of these mechanisms. The goal of this award is to develop a robust design framework for compliant DNA origami mechanisms to improve motion control and enable a wider range of mechanical behavior of DNA nano-structures. This design framework incorporates synthesis of commonly used compliant joints, pseudo-rigid-body models, kinetostatic analysis, synthesis algorithms and statistical theory based method for uncertainty quantification and management. The computational tools and experimental processes resulting from this research will enable: (a) design of DNA origami mechanisms with broader scope of mechanical behavior, (b) characterization of the properties of these nano-mechanisms, and (c) uncertainty quantification and management of DNA origami structures.