The ability to identify target ligand binding sites on a protein surface is of great importance to drug design, discovery and screening, as well as general and bionanotechnology research. Protein-ligand interactions allow for a complex network of molecular interactions. While it is possible to experimentally screen large amounts of binders, computational...

­Hybrid oligonucleotide-peptide compositions have many applications including DNA and RNA delivery, dynamic biomaterials, and hybrid self-assembling nanomaterials. The different components impart different activities; the peptide can be used for cell targeting, endosomal escape, cell surface receptor engagement, or enzymatic responsiveness, while...

Nanotechnology has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few decades. One of the main goals of nanotechnology is to build machines, switches or devices at the subatomic level that operate in a stimulus-responsive manner. Because DNA, via Watson-Crick pairing, is so precisely programmable, it is an ideal building block for creating such systems. In fact,...

The programmable nature and vast utility of three-dimensional cages makes them an important target for nanotechnology. While proteins and DNA have both been used as building blocks to create tunable nanoscale cages, each molecular type has its own limitations. Tuning nanoscale parameters in protein nanocages typically requires the entire system to be...

Accurate detection and diagnosis of infectious diseases is paramount to appropriate treatment and better outcomes. Despite tremendous efforts to advance new diagnostic techniques, there are still critical gaps in the healthcare system in quickly diagnosing and responding to infectious diseases. Current diagnostic technologies identify pathogens by detecting...