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Short answer: DNA can make nanoparticles crystallize by acting as a programmable set of molecular connectors. In a 2016 report, one method used switchable DNA hairpins on gold particles to favor either face-centred-cubic (FCC) or body-centred-cubic (BCC) arrangements. A second method enclosed particles in a tetrahedral DNA-origami cage whose four outward connections produced a diamond-like lattice. The “diamond” was a geometric description of the crystal structure—not gemstone diamond, carbon, or a hard bulk material.
What the 2016 report actually demonstrated
Chemistry World reported on 5 February 2016 that two US research groups had created different DNA-based routes to organize nanoparticles into ordered lattices. Both approaches belong to DNA-programmed colloidal assembly: instead of relying only on uncontrolled aggregation, researchers attach DNA strands to particle surfaces and use predictable base pairing to make selected particles attract one another.
The demonstrations addressed a central materials-design problem. A colloidal crystal’s properties depend on how its building blocks are positioned, how many neighbours each has, and how the repeating unit is oriented. Conventional crystallization often produces the structure that is thermodynamically easiest under a given set of conditions. DNA offers an additional design layer because its sequence, length and geometry can be chosen before assembly begins.
The report described particles and DNA architectures, not a manufacturing process for bulk diamond or a commercial material. It gave an approximate gold-particle diameter of 10–20 nm for Chad Mirkin’s study. Those dimensions and method details are reported figures from the contemporaneous account; they should not be read as independent verification of every experimental detail in the underlying papers.
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How DNA makes particles stick in a controlled way
Base pairing as a programmable connector
DNA strands are useful as connectors because complementary bases pair selectively: adenine pairs with thymine, and cytosine pairs with guanine. If one particle carries a strand ending in a sequence complementary to a strand on another particle, the strands can hybridize when the particles come close. A non-complementary sequence does not provide the same specific bridge.
Many strands are attached to each particle, so the result is a collective interaction rather than one molecular handshake. The number of strands, their length, the flexibility of the linkers, salt concentration and temperature all affect whether particles approach, remain connected or rearrange. DNA therefore supplies programmable attraction, while the surrounding solution and the particle surfaces still influence the final crystal.
Why “programmable” does not mean perfectly predetermined
Sequence design can select which particles recognize one another, but it does not erase ordinary colloid physics. Steric effects arise when DNA layers resist being compressed. Van der Waals attraction, electrostatic forces, solvent conditions and particle-size differences can change the relative stability of competing polymorphs. A structure that is favoured by the intended DNA bonds may still compete with another arrangement if the nonspecific forces differ.
This distinction matters when interpreting the 2016 work. DNA was used as a powerful design element, not as the sole force governing every atomic-scale event. Later work makes that qualification explicit.
Route one: switchable hairpins on gold nanoparticles
How the hairpin switch works
Mirkin’s team attached closed, stem-and-loop DNA hairpins to gold nanoparticles. In a closed hairpin, the complementary bases in the stem hold the strand in a folded state. Short effector strands can be designed to open selected hairpins by binding to their sequence. Opening the hairpin changes which DNA segments are exposed and therefore changes the particles’ available connections.
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The approach is analogous to changing a connector after the particles have been prepared. Instead of making a new particle batch for every target lattice, an effector sequence can alter the recognition state of the DNA layer. The Chemistry World report described gold nanoparticles approximately 10–20 nm in diameter in this study.
Reported crystal outcomes
According to the 2016 report, complementary effector strands favoured a face-centred-cubic arrangement, while non-complementary strands favoured a body-centred-cubic arrangement. FCC and BCC are different three-dimensional packing geometries:
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Face-centred cubic (FCC): particles occupy the corners and face centres of a repeating cubic unit cell. It is a highly coordinated close-packed arrangement.
- Body-centred cubic (BCC): particles occupy the corners and the centre of the unit cell. Its neighbour geometry and packing density differ from FCC.
The significance was not simply that nanoparticles formed a crystal. It was that changing a molecular input changed the preferred symmetry of the assembled lattice. Mirkin was quoted by Chemistry World as saying: “Nobody out there can, ahead of time when you make a new material, program crystal symmetry, lattice parameter and crystal habit – we can do that with this system,” says Mirkin. This is a media-reported quotation from the 2016 account.
Design trade-off in the hairpin method
The hairpin strategy emphasizes switchability. Its central control variable is the sequence that opens or leaves a hairpin closed, allowing the interaction network to be changed chemically. The trade-off is that the particle’s directional behaviour comes from molecular states on its surface. The final packing still depends on how those strands interact with one another and with the rest of the colloidal system.
Route two: a tetrahedral DNA-origami cage
Building a cage with DNA origami
Oleg Gang’s group took a more geometric approach. DNA origami folds a long DNA scaffold into a prescribed shape with many shorter “staple” strands. The 2016 report described a tetrahedral cage made from an approximately 8,000-base DNA strand and staple strands that held the scaffold in the intended configuration.
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A tetrahedron has four vertices. In this design, sticky DNA strands inside the cage captured DNA-coated nanoparticles, while strands positioned at the four outward-facing vertices provided connections to neighbouring cages or particles. The cage therefore imposed a directional valence: the assembled unit was designed to make four principal connections rather than bond equivalently in every direction.
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In a diamond lattice, each site is connected tetrahedrally to four nearest neighbours. The Gang design used the tetrahedral cage to reproduce that connectivity at the level of a nanoparticle assembly. The resulting structure was described as diamond-like because its repeating neighbour geometry resembles the diamond crystal lattice.
That wording is essential. The particles did not turn into carbon diamond, acquire diamond hardness, or form a gemstone. “Diamond-like” refers to lattice architecture—the topology and spatial arrangement of connections. The material remained a DNA-and-nanoparticle assembly.
Gang was quoted in Chemistry World as saying: “In some sense the creation of diamond tests our ability to fabricate complex materials by self-assembly.” The statement describes a test of structural control, not a claim that bulk diamond was synthesized.
Design trade-off in the cage method
The tetrahedral cage emphasizes geometric constraint. Directionality is built into the scaffold: the four outward vertices define where connections can form. This can make a target coordination pattern more explicit than a flat, switchable surface layer, but it also adds a larger DNA structure that must be folded correctly and remain compatible with the particles and solution.
Hairpin switching versus tetrahedral caging
| Feature | Switchable hairpins on gold particles | Tetrahedral DNA-origami cage |
|---|---|---|
| How directionality is created | Effector strands open selected surface hairpins and change exposed recognition sequences. | A folded tetrahedron places inward capture strands and four outward connection sites in defined directions. |
| Reported structures | Complementary effectors favoured FCC; non-complementary strands favoured BCC. | Four-way coordination enabled a diamond-like lattice. |
| Main control idea | Change the molecular binding state after functionalization. | Constrain the connection geometry with a physical DNA scaffold. |
| Reported scale detail | Gold nanoparticles approximately 10–20 nm in diameter. | An approximately 8,000-base scaffold strand plus staple strands for the cage. |
| Primary design trade-off | High chemical switchability, with packing still influenced by the surface interaction environment. | Explicit four-direction geometry, with the added complexity of folding and using a large cage. |
These are complementary strategies rather than two versions of the same experiment. One changes which bonds are available; the other changes where bonds can point.
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What “diamond-like” does—and does not—tell you
It describes a lattice, not a substance
Crystal names can be misleading when they are transferred from atomic materials to colloids. In this context, the repeating units are nanoparticles and DNA cages whose centres occupy positions analogous to sites in a diamond lattice. The mechanical, optical and electronic properties are not automatically those of diamond.
Why the geometry is scientifically useful
Diamond-type connectivity is relatively open compared with close-packed lattices. An open, directional network can create voids, unusual light propagation, anisotropic transport or pathways for incorporating a second component. Those possibilities are reasons researchers pursue the geometry. They are not evidence that the 2016 assembly already delivered a practical photonic, catalytic or structural product.
Jan Vermant, a soft-matter chemist at ETH Zurich who was not involved in the work, told Chemistry World, “The control over structure is impressive,” while adding that it would be interesting to see how the ideas and structures translate into materials with unique properties. This is a useful distinction between demonstrating a lattice and demonstrating a useful application.
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What later work says controls crystal structure
A 2025 Soft Matter study adds an important qualification to DNA-first explanations. In a binary mixture of same-sized, DNA-coated micrometre-scale particles, the authors reported body-centred-tetragonal crystals, including structures related to cesium chloride and copper–gold arrangements. Their simulations reproduced the observations when they included nonspecific steric and van der Waals interactions.
This result is not a direct replication of the 2016 nanoparticle experiments. It concerns a different particle size, mixture and experimental system. Its broader lesson is nevertheless relevant: competing crystal polymorphs can be selected by the combined balance of designed DNA interactions and ordinary physical forces.
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For practical interpretation, ask two questions separately:
- What does the DNA sequence or architecture specify? It can create selective recognition, switch exposure states or impose a target coordination number.
- What does the rest of the system permit? Steric crowding, van der Waals attraction, solvent and ionic conditions, particle size and kinetic pathways can stabilize or suppress particular arrangements.
The 2025 review by William M. Jacobs and W. Benjamin Rogers describes the field as moving toward deliberate control of interactions and dynamic assembly pathways. It also covers combinations of nanoparticles with DNA origami for multicomponent and finite structures. That direction treats DNA as part of a broader design toolbox, not a universal override of colloidal thermodynamics.
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How a DNA-programmed assembly is designed
- Choose the building block. Researchers select particle material, diameter and surface chemistry. The 2016 hairpin report used gold nanoparticles in the approximate 10–20 nm range; other systems can use different sizes and compositions.
- Define the target connectivity. A close-packed FCC or BCC lattice needs one interaction pattern, while a diamond-like network needs four directional neighbours.
- Encode recognition. Complementary DNA sequences are assigned to partners. Hairpins can hide or reveal a sequence; origami can place strands at chosen vertices or faces.
- Set the physical environment. Salt, temperature, concentration, strand density and solvent affect hybridization and colloidal stability. These conditions determine whether particles meet, bind, rearrange or aggregate irreversibly.
- Allow nucleation and rearrangement. Ordered crystals require particles to find the intended low-energy arrangement. Fast nonspecific sticking can trap defects before DNA-mediated correction occurs.
- Characterize the resulting structure. A claim of FCC, BCC, body-centred tetragonal or diamond-like order requires structural measurements; the visual presence of aggregates is not sufficient.
This workflow explains why “just add complementary DNA” is not a complete recipe. Sequence design is necessary for specificity, but assembly conditions and non-DNA forces determine whether the intended lattice actually wins.
What the demonstrations did not establish
- Not industrial production: The reviewed sources do not establish manufacturing scale, production yield, throughput or process economics.
- Not a consumer application: No consumer product or ready-to-buy material follows from these demonstrations.
- Not guaranteed sequence-only control: Later modelling and experiments show that nonspecific steric and van der Waals interactions can alter polymorph stability.
- Not bulk diamond: The diamond reference is to lattice geometry, not carbon conversion or gemstone properties.
- Not a universal recipe: The 2016 methods used particular particles, DNA designs and conditions; transferring them to another material requires new optimization.
The original Chemistry World story cited the underlying Science papers (Kim et al., DOI 10.1126/science.aad2212; Liu et al., DOI 10.1126/science.aad2080). The specific method details above are presented as reported in that 2016 account. The later 2025 review and Soft Matter study provide field context and limits, not evidence of commercial readiness.
Why this work matters for materials science
Ordinary colloidal assembly often gives researchers a limited set of equilibrium structures. DNA adds addressability: different sequences can distinguish different partners, and DNA origami can place those partners in three-dimensional patterns. That makes it possible to think about crystal symmetry, coordination number and finite architectures as design variables.
The two 2016 routes illustrate two levels of control. Hairpins show that a molecular signal can switch between reported FCC and BCC outcomes. Tetrahedral origami shows that a larger scaffold can encode four-way directionality associated with a diamond-like network. Together they demonstrate a progression from programmable attraction to programmable geometry.
The field’s harder challenge is translating structural control into reliable function. A useful material would need reproducible assembly, acceptable defect levels, stability outside carefully tuned laboratory conditions and a property that justifies the complexity of DNA fabrication. The available reports establish an ambitious platform for those questions, not their final answers.
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