Tailored optical material from DNA: Light-modifying nanoparticles

In the human body genetic information is encoded in double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid building blocks, the so-called DNA. Using artificial DNA molecules, an international team of scientists headed by the Cluster of Excellence Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) has produced nanostructured materials that can be used to modify visible light by specification. The researchers present their results in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature.