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Ned Seeman is the Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Chemistry at New York University, and one of the Section Heads for Biomimetic Chemistry in the Chemical Biology Faculty of F1000Prime. We were lucky enough to have Professor Seeman visit us at our London offices recently, and in this video he tells us of the field in which he is recognised as a founding father: DNA nanotechnology.

While many will think that interest in DNA is focused on its properties as the encoder of genetic information, Professor Seeman pioneered the use of its structural properties. After seeing M. C. Escher’s woodcut Depth in the 1980s, Professor Seeman realised that a three-dimensional lattice of DNA could be used to fix molecules for X-ray crystallography. It would take until 2009, nearly 30 years after his original insight, for the first three-dimensional DNA lattice to be synthesised – by Professor Seeman himself.

Here, Professor Seeman talks about the current work of his lab: combining stably branched DNA molecules with ‘sticky ends’, paving the way for structures and devices made from DNA – devices that could one day even self-replicate.