Biological & Soft Matter Seminar: Exploring soft matter with DNA
Tommaso Bellini, Professor of Physics, Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università di Milano
Abstract:
The combination of solubility, coded pairing and adjustable flexibility make DNA a unique polymer for designing self-assembled nanostructures with highly controlled structure and mutual interactions.
These properties can be exploited to produce DNA-based systems enabling the exploration of challenging topics in soft matter physics.
In the talk I will exemplify this approach in two main directions.
I will describe the phase behavior of linearly aggregating short DNA and RNA oligomers (down to 4 base long), their liquid crystal ordering and their catalytic action.
I will also describe the phase diagram and critical behavior of low-valence DNA particles, their gelation transition, and their intriguing complex dynamics.
Seminar Organizer: Guy Yaacoby
