A team of researchers led by Oleg Gang of Columbia University has demonstrated how DNA can be used to organize quantum dots, enzymes, and other nanoscale objects into three-dimensional (3D) arrays. Previous efforts to do this have been limited by the need to design custom scaffolds for each object. In an article published in Nature Materials, Gang and his co-workers describe a new approach that overcomes this challenge, positioning DNA as a universal scaffolding with significant potential in nanoscale engineering.

A structural relative to graphene and carbon nanotubes, graphidyne, has garnered significant attention over the past decade owing to its electrical and photocatalytic properties. A collaboration of researchers in China and the United States have now demonstrated a novel use for graphidyne, not as an energetic material, but as an antibacterial one. With evidence of antibacterial properties, graphidyne may find new applications in biomedical engineering.

By adding a series of successive channels, researchers redirect a fracture by up to 45 degrees.

This biocompatible, 3D-printed microengineered pill offers a noninvasive technology for medical studies.

Through self-repair, DNA nanotubes overcome damage in serum induced by DNA-degrading enzymes.

Helical nanofiber yarn shows nonaffine deformation, opening the door to tissue engineering and biohybrid robotics.

PLGA combined with decellularized extracellular matrix and Mg(OH)2 overcomes inflammatory response in tissue regeneration.