“Origami” DNA Traps Could Keep Large Viruses From Infecting Cells

By engineering structures out of DNA, scientists could potentially prevent larger viruses, like coronaviruses and influenza viruses, from interacting with cells.

Written byNatalia Mesa, PhD

| 4 min read

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An artist’s rendering of a DNA-based virus trap, represented as gray rods in a short cone-shaped arrangement. One is coated with blue molecules, likely antibodies, that adhere to a virus target. Another image shows to traps coming together to capture a red coronavirus.

Artist’s rendering of a virus-trapping shell and of two shells coming together to trap a coronavirus

Image credit:MODIFIED FROM MONFERRER ET AL., DNA ORIGAMI TRAPS FOR LARGE VIRUSES, CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE (2022), HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1016/J.XCRP.2022.101237

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Using a technique called “DNA origami,” researchers created traps that encase large viruses—such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, and Zika—in hopes of preventing them from infecting cells.

A study published today (January 18) in Cell Reports Physical Science details how researchers used DNA origami to engineer strands of genetic material into Lego-like structures that form a cage around large pathogens. While the study only looked at how effectively the structures bound to viruses in vitro, the traps could one day help clear viruses from the body.

“It’s a fantastic paper,” says Ashwin Gopinath, a biomechanical engineer at MIT who was not involved in the study. “It’s a really interesting physical approach to virus entrapment.”

Study coauthor Hendrick Dietz, a physicist at the Technical University of Munich, hopes that these viral traps could one day be used to treat any virus. “There are more than 200 known viruses. For only five percent ...

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Meet the Author

Natalia Mesa, PhD
As she was completing her graduate thesis on the neuroscience of vision, Natalia found that she loved to talk to other people about how science impacts them. This passion led Natalia to take up writing and science communication, and she has contributed to outlets including Scientific American and the Broad Institute. Natalia completed her PhD in neuroscience at the University of Washington and graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. She was previously an intern at The Scientist, and currently freelances from her home in Seattle.
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