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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.07.23.740378

Automated design of stiffness-tunable DNA origami hollowframes for self-assembling metamaterials

Vetturini, A. J.·Cagan, J.·Taylor, R. E.
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Abstract

DNA origami offers a route to engineering architected metamaterials with sub-nanometer precision by linking nanoscale building blocks into micron-scale assemblies. However, automated design spaces are currently limited to fixed DNA origami motifs, restricting the ability to readily tune a mass-efficient nanostructure stiffness. Here, we introduce a fully automated design paradigm that converts prescribed vertices, edges, and cross-section specifications directly into manufacturable, nucleotide-level models. To demonstrate robustness, three structurally distinct nanostructures are realized under a shared experimental protocol. Further, this paradigm enables the deterministic assembly of hollowframe building blocks into micron-scale architectures, including traditional and auxetic reentrant honeycomb lattices. More broadly, this work establishes a novel design abstraction for stiffness-tunable DNA origami nanostructures that can be rapidly translated into architected metamaterials with distinct functional responses.

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Vetturini, A. J., Cagan, J., Taylor, R. E.. 2026-07-24. Automated design of stiffness-tunable DNA origami hollowframes for self-assembling metamaterials. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.23.740378

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