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The Histone-like Nucleoid Structuring protein (H-NS) is a nucleoid-associated protein, which is involved in both gene regulation and DNA compaction. Although it is a key player in genome organization by forming bridges between DNA duplexes,…
Limited bonding valence, usually accompanied by well-defined directional interactions and selective bonding mechanisms, is nowadays considered among the key ingredients to create complex structures with tailored properties: even though…
A key concept underlying the specific functionalities of metasurfaces, i.e. arrays of subwavelength nanoparticles, is the use of constituent components to shape the wavefront of the light, on-demand. Metasurfaces are versatile and novel…
The two strands of a DNA molecule with a repetitive sequence can pair into many different basepairing patterns. For perfectly periodic sequences, early bulk experiments of Poerschke indicate the existence of a sliding process, permitting…
Innovation in the physical layer of communication systems has traditionally been achieved by breaking down the transceivers into sets of processing blocks, each optimized independently based on mathematical models. Conversely, deep learning…
The specificity and thermal reversibility of DNA interactions have enabled the self-assembly of crystal structures, self-replicating materials and colloidal molecules. Grafting DNA onto liquid interfaces of emulsions leads to exciting new…
DNA surface-hybridization biosensors utilize the selective hybridization of target sequences in solution to surface-immobilized probes. In this process, the target is usually assumed to be in excess, so that its concentration does not…
SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) is an experimental procedure that allows extracting, from an initially random pool of DNA, those oligomers with high affinity for a given DNA-binding protein. We address what…
Cells operate in part by compartmentalizing chemical reactions. For example, recent work has shown that chromatin, the material that contains the cell's genome, can auto-regulate its structure by utilizing reaction products (proteins, RNA)…
Area-selective atomic layer deposition is a key technology for modern microelectronics as it eliminates alignment errors inherent to conventional approaches by enabling material deposition only in specific areas. Typically, the selectivity…
Multivalency is a common biological mechanism of formation of strong reversible and selective bonds by grouping weak bonds. Polymers often act as a scaffold to which multiple binding groups are attached. Here I present an analytical theory…
Nanoscale design of surfaces and interfaces is essential for modern technologies like organic LEDs, batteries, fuel cells, superlubricating surfaces, and heterogeneous catalysis. However, these systems often exhibit complex surface…
DNA nanotechnology promises to provide controllable self-assembly on the nanoscale, allowing for the design of static structures, dynamic machines and computational architectures. In this article I review the state-of-the art of DNA…
Cells need to reliably sense external ligand concentrations to achieve various biological functions such as chemotaxis or signaling. The molecular recognition of ligands by surface receptors is degenerate in many systems leading to…
Molecular motor proteins form the basis of cellular dynamics. Recently, notable efforts have led to the creation of their DNA-based mimics, which can carry out complex nanoscale motion. However, such functional analogues have not yet been…
Protein-DNA interactions are crucial for all biological processes. One of the most important fundamental aspects of these interactions is the process of protein searching and recognizing specific binding sites on DNA. A large number of…
Mesoscale molecular assemblies on the cell surface, such as cilia and filopodia, integrate information, control transport and amplify signals. Synthetic devices mimicking these structures could sensitively monitor these cellular functions…
Nanoparticle gels have attracted considerable attention due to their highly tunable properties. One strategy for producing nanoparticle gels involves using strong local attractions between polymeric molecules, such as DNA hybridization or…
The histone-DNA interaction in the nucleosome is a fundamental mechanism of genomic compaction and regulation, which remains largely unkown despite a growing structural knowledge of the complex. Here, we propose a framework for the…
Multiple-objective optimization is common in biological systems. In the mammalian olfactory system, each sensory neuron stochastically expresses only one out of up to thousands of olfactory receptor (OR) gene alleles; at organism level the…