Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/A10274/01
Title:	SF:SELF-ASSEMBLY OF DNA BIO-NANOSTRUCTURES & PHOTONIC CRYSTALS
Principal Investigator:	Turberfield, Professor AJ
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Oxford Physics
Organisation:	University of Oxford
Scheme:	Senior Fellowship (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 2001	Ends:	30 September 2006	Value (£):	225,309
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Synthesis & Growth
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 11 Dec 2000 Materials Fellowships Sift Panel Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
DNA-based nanostructures are at the core of this proposal at the interface between the physical and life sciences: it includes both research into newtechniques for proteomics and the fabrication of functional optical materials.DNA is a versatile material for construction by self-assembly on a molecular scale. I propose to create nanostructures, made primarily from DNA, that have the ability to analyse, recognise and bind proteins.I will use periodic DNA templates to spatially order proteins with the aim of developing a general technique for structural determination of proteins that do not naturally crystallise.I will investigate interactions between proteins and DNA-based nanostructures. Arrays of such structures might form the basis of a method to separate mixtures of proteins according to their physical and chemical properties. DNA ligands with specific affinity for target.- proteins would form a basis for the development of affinity separation or quantitative assays.I will develop synthetic molecular motors made from DNA and fuelled by DNA hybridization, that will permit controlled movement on nanometre length scales.In an ongoing collaboration with Prof. R.G. Denning (Chemistry, Oxford) I am investigating the fabrication of photonic crystals by holographic lithography. I propose to link this programme to my work on bio-nanostructures by investigating the use of DNA-directed self-assembly of colloids to produce photonic microstructures. By developing techniques of nonequilibrium self-assembly I aim both to reduce the density of unintended defects that currently characterise photonic materials based on colloidal crystals and to increase the range of crystal structures, and thus photonic band structures, that may be produced.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ox.ac.uk