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02 September 2013

'Highly programmable' DNA cubes could be used for drug delivery

3D cages made from strands of DNA could be used as a nanotechnology solution for drug delivery. Cubes of DNA, with molecular tentacles, or chains, attached on each corner, spontaneously create water-repellant carriages that could be used to carry drugs.
 
In research carried out at McGill University in Canada, lipid-tipped DNA chains attached to DNA cubes folded back inside, creating places for hydrophobic molecules to be carried.
 
 
The research is detailed in a paper published in Nature Chemistry on 1 September.