For this research, the scientists used DNA to make the scaffold for a structure that was a mirror image of the outside of the dengue virus, latching on to it as it passed. In this specific case, it was then designed to light up and fluoresce — meaning the trap became a highly sensitive test for presence of the virus. However, in theory such techniques could also be used therapeutically to halt disease. If a virus, for instance, has a structure attached to it then it cannot also attack cells.
If a cancer cell is enmeshed in a DNA net, it is a lot harder for it to proliferate. Xing Wang, from Illinois University, said that there would be a huge advantage in developing programmable nanostructures that attacked viruses. “For lots of viruses, there is little we can do and they are very hard to get rid of,” he said. “There’s no effective drug for dengue virus. Treatment is based on the human natural response through our immune systems. So you have to suffer first. That’s the major reasons we wanted to target it.”
His paper showed that as a test their approach outperformed the best systems on the market and required little in the way of specialist equipment. The general principles of the approach suggested that it was possible to go a lot further. “DNA is naturally made by organisms, and has very low toxicity,” he said. “This strategy can be used to target surface patterns throughout the biological world: viruses, bacteria, fungi, cancers. Looking at that is our next step.”
