EDITORIAL pubs.acs.org/JPCL
DNA Structures and Excited States nanoparticles (such as quantum dots) to DNA have been developed, as have schemes for making dynamic assemblies, DNA switches, DNA machines, and DNA computers.11,12 A major focus of the Perspective is on methods for combining functional DNA-based structures such as aptamers and DNA enzymes with the DNA nanostructures. While the Perspective underscores the richness of structures that have been developed, it also points out directions for future growth based on the combination of structure and function. Indeed, it is interesting to note that in another Perspective, Lee, Prytkova, and Schatz4 described an alternative technology for making DNA-functionalized nanoparticles and DNA-linked structures which has so-far not been connected with the DNA structures described by Modi et al.
This issue of J. Phys. Chem. Lett. provides a second set of Perspective articles concerned with the physical chemistry of DNA. Collectively, the Perspectives in this issue1-3 and the previous one4-6 show the breadth of interest in DNA, with applications that include DNA spectroscopy, photophysics and photochemistry, DNA as a polyelectrolyte, materials made either completely from DNA or with DNA as a component, and DNA as a testbed for making molecular electronic devices and performing computations and logical operations. Both theory and experiment are actively engaged in many of these studies. This richness of physical chemistry research arises for many reasons. Of course, the obvious one is the importance of DNA in molecular biology and its unique photophysical properties which enable it to have exceptional stability. DNA is also a polyelectrolyte, with unique thermodynamic and solvation properties as a result. In addition, DNA can be synthesized with great versatility and precision, and it shows a diverse set of structures that can be controlled by base pair composition, making it possible to make unique materials. Finally, DNA can interact with molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles in many different ways, providing additional capabilities for making functional materials. The Perspective by Gustavsson, Improta, and Markovitsa1 focuses on the UV photochemistry of nucleic acid bases (NABs). Past work has demonstrated that individual NABs in the gas phase or in solution exhibit ultrafast (
