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Various methods, using DNA, have been reported for the recording of biomolecular interactions, but most are either destructive in nature or are limited to reporting pairwise interactions. Here the authors develop DNA-based motors, termed ‘crawlers’, that roam around and record their trajectories to allow the examination of molecular environments.

Contractile rings are formed from cytoskeletal filaments, specific crosslinkers and motor proteins during cell division. Here, authors form micron-scale contractile DNA rings from DNA nanotubes and synthetic crosslinkers, with both simulations and experiments showing ring contraction without motor proteins, offering a potential first step towards synthetic cell division machinery.

DNA nanotechnology, including DNA machines and devices for computing, is a rapidly expanding field of research. Here, the authors fabricate DNA catenane machines for the programmable arrangement of gold nanoparticle cargoes, and study their switchable spectroscopic features.

A new DNA logic circuits architecture based on single-stranded logic gates and strand-displacing DNA polymerase requires less computation time and fewer DNA strands.

Current DNA-assembled nanophotonic devices can only reconfigure among random or few defined states. Here, the authors demonstrate a DNA-assembled rotary plasmonic nanoclock in which a rotor gold nanorod carries out directional and reversible 360° rotation transitioning among 16 well-defined configurations.

The nanospace confinement of a magnetic nanoparticle within a porous cage, coupled with an encodable DNA clutch interface, enables a remotely powered and controlled rotary nanomotor that is autoresponsive to its microenvironment.

Although DNA nanotechnology has found many applications in developing functional structures, there has never been an independent device contained within a 3D crystal. Now, a self-assembled three-state device that can change the colour of its crystal by diffusion of DNA-ligated dyes has been reported, representing the potential to develop programmable nanomechanical devices.

DNA tiles lay the foundation for programmable self-assembly of diverse DNA nanostructures. Here, the authors present a set of T-shaped crossover DNA tiles for various 2D tessellation and nanoring reconfiguration.

Computational frameworks for structural dynamics are in continuous need of being developed. Here the authors present a a computational framework based on Langevin dynamics to analyze structural dynamics and reconfiguration of DNA assemblies, offering a rational method for designing responsive and reconfigurable DNA machines

A nanoscale DNA origami turbine is shown to perform mechanical rotation by directly harvesting transmembrane potential energy from an ion-concentration gradient across a solid-state nanopore. The direction of rotation is set by the designed chiral twist in the turbine’s blades.

An autonomous DNA-origami nanomachine powered by the chemical energy of DNA-templated RNA-transcription-consuming nucleoside triphosphates as fuel performs rhythmic pulsations is demonstrated. In combination with a passive follower, the nanomachine acts as a mechanical driver with molecular precision.

The heterogeneous and compartmentalized environments within living cells make it difficult to deploy theranostic agents with precise spatiotemporal accuracy. Zhao et al. demonstrate a DNA framework state machine that can switch among multiple structural states according to the temporal sequence of molecular cues, enabling temporally controlled CRISPR–Cas9 targeting in living mammalian cells.

A synthetic nanocarrier based on DNA origami chassis offers control over valency, orientation and spatial arrangement of antibodies for simultaneously engaging immune signalling pathways, checkpoint inhibition and targeted co-stimulation in anticancer immunotherapy in vivo.

A design approach for engineering wireframe DNA nanostructures, in which each vertex and line segment can be individually controlled, can be used to fabricate complex structures including quasicrystalline two-dimensional patterns and reconfigurable three-dimensional Archimedean solids.

Artificial molecular machines have captured the imagination of researchers, given their clear potential to mimic and influence human life. Here, the authors use a DNA cube framework for the design of a dice device at the nanoscale to reproduce probabilistic events in different situations such as equal probability, high probability, and low probability.

In contrast to conventional thermal annealing approaches, the authors report on the self-assembly of complex mixtures of DNA at room or physiological temperature for generating user-defined programmable nanostructures capable of shape selection and transformation.

Building synthetic protocells and prototissues hinges on the formation of biomimetic skeletal frameworks. Here, the authors harness simplicity to create complexity by assembling DNA subunits into structural frameworks which support membrane-based protocells and prototissues.

Simple assembly rules applied recursively in a multistage assembly process enable the creation of DNA origami arrays with sizes of up to 0.5 square micrometres and with arbitrary patterns.

A molecular automaton comprising antibodies and oligonucleotides evaluates cells in a Boolean manner by executing a chemical cascade on cell surfaces.

Motors based on RNA-cleaving DNA enzymes can transport cadmium sulphide nanocrystals along single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Real-time atomic force microscopy can be used image the individual steps of a DNA motor as it moves, autonomously and at constant average speed, along a 100-nm track.

Kinesin motor proteins conjugated to DNA nanostructures can be used to assemble a network of microtubule tracks, and to control the loading, active concentration and unloading of cargo on this network, or trigger its disassembly.

Nanoscale robots made from DNA origami can dynamically interact with each other and perform logic computations in a living animal.

DNA-based T-motifs that can self-assemble into ring structures can be designed to self-replicate through toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions.

Responsive molecular machines can perform specific tasks triggered by environmental or chemical stimuli. Here, the authors show that antibodies can be used as inputs to modulate the binding of a molecular cargo to a designed DNA-based nanomachine, with potential applications in diagnostics and drug delivery.

Mesoscale molecular assemblies on the cell surface integrate information and amplify signals. Here the authors integrate DNA nanotubes in a controlled manner with mammalian cells to act as sheer stress meters.

Ligand-oligonucleotide interactions can integrate both small molecules and proteins into nucleic acid-based circuits. Here the authors design ligand-aptamer complexes to control strand-displacement reactions for versatile ligand transduction.

A DNA nanodevice vaccine has been developed and utilized to stimulate a tumour-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in vivo, leading to the inhibition of tumour growth as well as prevention of metastasis.

Investigation of spatial organization and relationships of biomolecules in cellular nanoenvironments is necessary to understand essential biological processes, but methodologically challenging. Here, the authors report cellular macromolecules-tethered DNA walking indexing (Cell-TALKING) to probe the nanoenvironments of DNA modifications around histone post-translational modifications, and explore the nanoenvironments in different cancer cell lines and clinical specimens.

Synthetic molecular systems require subtle control over their thermodynamics and reaction kinetics to implement features such as catalysis. Here the authors propose using mismatches in a DNA duplex to drive catalytic reactions forward whilst maintaining tight catalytic control.

Rotaxanes are interlocked molecules that can undergo sliding and rotational movements and can be used in artificial molecular machines and motors. Here, Simmel and co-workers show a rigid rotaxane structures consisting of DNA origami subunits that can slide over several hundreds of nanometres.

DNA circuits hold promise for advancing information-based molecular technologies, yet it is challenging to design and construct them in practice. Thubagereet al. build DNA strand displacement circuits using unpurified strands whose sequences are automatically generated from a user-friendly compiler.

Controlling the threshold response in synthetic molecular structures is challenging. Here, the authors report on the buckling of ring-shaped DNA origami structures into twisted architectures via mechanical instability, induced by DNA intercalators.

DNA nanoswitch calipers can measure distances within single molecules with atomic resolution. Applied to single-molecule proteomics, they can enable the identification and quantification of molecules in trace samples via mechanical fingerprinting.

Many synthetic DNA nanomachines have been developed and demonstratedin vitro, but their use in living organisms has not been reported. Now, a DNA nanomachine, the I-switch, is used to map spatiotemporal pH changes associated with endosomal maturation within coelomocytes of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Fast and scalable molecular logic circuits can be created through the spatial organization of DNA hairpins on DNA origami scaffolds.

The DNA nanoengine constitutes a chemical energy-driven unidirectional rotor that directionally walks along a predefined multistep track.

Synthetic DNA nanomachines have been designed to perform a variety of tasksin vitro. Here, the authors build a nanomotor system that integrates a DNAzyme and DNA track on a gold nanoparticle, to facilitate cellular uptake, and apply it as a real-time miRNA imaging tool in living cells.

Strand displacement is commonly used in DNA nanotechnology to program dynamic interactions between individual DNA strands. Here, the authors describe a tile displacement principle that is similar in concept but occurs on a larger structural level: the displacement reactions take place between DNA origami tiles, allowing reconfiguration of entire systems of interacting DNA structures.

Kinesin, a motor protein, moves along filaments in a walk-like fashion to transport cargo to specific places in the cell. Here, the authors developed an analogous, artificial system consisting of nanoparticles moving along DNA filaments.

Specially designed DNA nanodevices that enter the same cell through two different pathways can independently map pH gradients simultaneously inside distinct cellular compartments along both pathways.

Molecular machines that assemble polymers in a programmed sequence are fundamental to life. Now, synthetic machinery built from DNA has been used to execute a molecular program that produces peptides, or olefin oligomers, with a defined sequence. The oligomeric product is linked to a double-stranded DNA product that records the sequence of reactions that were executed.

Chemical controllers made from DNA can be programmed to implement any dynamic behaviour compatible with chemical kinetics.

A molecular probe has been designed that distinguishes double-stranded DNA with single base-pair specificity. In this approach, two destabilizing bubbles, in which the base pairs are mismatched, are generated for each point mutation in the target DNA.

The spatial organisation of nanostructures is fundamental to their function. Here, the authors develop a non-destructive, proximity-based method to record extensive spatial organization information in DNA molecules for later readout.

Single-molecule optimization leads to a cartwheeling DNA walker with a more than tenfold improved stepping rate.

DNA molecular machines hold promise for biological nanotechnology, but how to actuate them in a fast and programmable manner remains challenging. Here, Lauback et al. demonstrate direct manipulation of DNA origami assemblies via a micrometer-long stiff mechanical lever controlled by a magnetic field.