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Abstract The “cloud lab,” an automated laboratory that allows researchers to program and conduct physical experiments remotely, represents a paradigm shift in scientific practice. This shift from wet‐lab research as a primarily manual enterprise to one more akin to programming bears incredible promise by democratizing a completely new level of automation and its advantages to the scientific community. Moreover, they provide a foundation on which automated science driven by artificial intelligence (A.I.) can be built upon and thereby resolve limitations in scope and accessibility that current systems face. With a focus on DNA nanotechnology, the authors have had the opportunity to explore and apply the cloud lab to active research. This perspective delves into the future potential of cloud labs in accelerating scientific research and broadening access to automation. The challenges associated with the technology in its current state are further explored, including difficulties in experimental troubleshooting, the limited applicability of its parallelization in an academic setting, as well as the potential reduction in experimental flexibility associated with the approach. 

Abstract Active colloids are modular assemblies of distinct micro‐ and nanoscale components that can perform complex robotic tasks. While recent advances in templated assembly methods enable high‐throughput fabrication of multi‐material active colloids, their limitations reduce the ability to construct flexibly linked colloidal systems, restricting their complexity, agility, and functionality. Here, templated assembly by selective removal (TASR) is leveraged to construct multicomponent colloidal microstructures that are connected with compliant DNA nanotube linkages. Polycarbonate heat (PCH) molding is employed to create high‐surface‐energy templates for improved polystyrene microsphere assembly via TASR. This increase in template surface energy improves microsphere assembly by more than 100‐fold for two‐sphere microstructures. An inverse relationship between microstructure complexity (i.e., the number of microspheres) and assembly yields is observed. PCH‐assisted TASR is leveraged to construct larger colloidal structures containing up to 26 microspheres, multi‐sphere microrotors, and structurally homogeneous populations of flexibly linked, two‐sphere microswimmers that locomote in fluid environments. Real‐time modification of a microswimmer is also demonstrated through nuclease‐mediated degradation of the DNA linkages, highlighting the DNA‐enabled reconfiguration and responsiveness capabilities of these microswimmers. These results establish PCH‐assisted TASR as a versatile method for constructing flexibly linked, modular microrobots with controlled geometry, enhanced agility, and dynamic response. 

DNA nanotechnology has proven exceptionally apt at probing and manipulating biological environments as it can create nanostructures of almost arbitrary shape that permit countless types of modifications, all while being inherently biocompatible. Emergent areas of particular interest are applications involving cellular membranes, but to fully explore the range of possibilities requires interdisciplinary knowledge of DNA nanotechnology, cell and membrane biology, and biophysics. In this review, we aim for a concise introduction to the intersection of these three fields. After briefly revisiting DNA nanotechnology, as well as the biological and mechanical properties of lipid bilayers and cellular membranes, we summarize strategies to mediate interactions between membranes and DNA nanostructures, with a focus on programmed delivery onto, into, and through lipid membranes. We also highlight emerging applications, including membrane sculpting, multicell self-assembly, spatial arrangement and organization of ligands and proteins, biomechanical sensing, synthetic DNA nanopores, biological imaging, and biomelecular sensing. Many critical but exciting challenges lie ahead, and we outline what strikes us as promising directions when translating DNA nanostructures for future in vitro and in vivo membrane applications.