Nanomechanical DNA origami devices as versatile molecular sensors

We propose versatile sensing systems for a variety of chemical and biological targets at molecular resolution. We have designed functional nanomechanical DNA origami devices that can be used as “single-molecule beacons”, which consist of two levers approximately 170 nm long connected at a fulcrum. Various single-molecule inorganic/organic targets ranging from metal ions to proteins as well as a unique binding event of a nucleic acid analogue can be visually detected on AFM by a shape transition of the origami devices.