Self-Assembling DNA Colloquium

The Mathematics and Statistics Department welcomes you to a Colloquium on Thursday October 7, at 3:30 with Professor Amanda Harsy of Lewis Univesity.

Professor Harsy will deliver a lecture entitled "Graph Theoretical Designs of Self-Assembling DNA." Light refreshments will be served in the Reading Room, immediately followed by the lecture in North Hall 276.

Self-assembly is a term used to describe the process of a collection of components combining to form an organized structure without external direction. The unique properties of double-stranded DNA molecules make DNA a valuable structural material with which to form nanostructures, and the field of DNA nanotechnology is largely based on this premise. By modeling nanostructures with discrete graphs, efficient DNA self-assembly becomes a mathematical puzzle. These nanostructures have wide-ranging applications, such as containers for the transport and release of nano-cargos, templates for the controlled growth of nano-objects, and in drug-delivery methods. This research project centers around the exploration of the graph-theoretical and combinatorial properties of DNA self-assembly, as well as the development of computational tools to aid in answering fundamental questions that arise.