Krieg Lab

Synthetic polymer materials have revolutionized the world within the last century. Yet, a glance at nature reveals how limited the functions of synthetic polymers still are in comparison to biological matter: biological cells use molecular self-assembly and self-organization to build complex materials, such as the cytoskeleton, and to operate sophisticated macromolecular devices, such as motor proteins. For many years, chemists and material scientists have been intrigued by one question: How can we construct materials with equally sophisticated and versatile features?

Inspired by biology's refined design principles, our group strives to develop materials with programmable and reconfigurable properties. We use DNA as the quintessential component for these materials: aside from its crucial role as the carrier of genetic information, DNA can be used as a construction material to assemble artificial nanometer-scale structures. This research field at the interface of science and engineering is known as DNA nanotechnology.

By combining concepts of DNA nanotechnology with traditional polymer chemistry and molecular biology, we aim to transfer the programmability and reconfigurability of nanometer-scale DNA devices to the macroscopic level. To this end, structural scaffolds of synthetic acryloyl polymers are endowed with DNA-based nanomodules via non-covalent self-assembly. The ultimate target is the development of new classes of materials that can be programmed to perform complex tasks for diverse biomedical applications.