EN
Nucleic acid nanotechnology offers many
methods to build self-assembled structures using RNA
and DNA. These scaffolds are valuable in multiple
applications, such as sensing, drug delivery and
nanofabrication. Although RNA and DNA are similar
molecules, they also have unique chemical and
structural properties. RNA is generally less stable
than DNA, but it folds into a variety of tertiary motifs
that can be used to produce complex and functional
nanostructures. Another advantage of using RNA over
DNA is its ability to be encoded into genes and to be
expressed in vivo. Here we review existing approaches
for the self-assembly of RNA and DNA nanostructures
and specifically methods to assemble large RNA
structures. We describe de novo design approaches
used in DNA nanotechnology that can be ported to
RNA. Lastly, we discuss some of the challenges yet to
be solved to build micron-scale, multi stranded RNA
scaffolds.