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Welcome to the Simmel Lab |
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Our experimental research group explores the physical properties of natural and artificial biomolecular systems and their applications in bionanotechnology.
DNA self-assembly
| The unique biophysical and biochemical properties of DNA molecules can be utilized for the construction and assembly of artificial biomolecular nanostructures. Due to the intimate linkage between DNA sequence and structure, DNA is ideally suited as a material for "programmable" self-assembly. Recently, the field has been revolutionized by the introduction of the "DNA origami" technique which allows for the realization of almost arbitrary two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. Our group currently explores its use in the context of biophysics and bionanotechnology. |
Biomolecular nanodevices 
| DNA and RNA molecules can fold into a variety of different structures and shapes. For instance, complementary DNA molecules can bind with each other to form double-stranded molecules; self-complementary sequences can fold back to form hairpin loops, etc. It is possible to design molecular structures which can be reversibly switched between several alternative structures, some of which may have a particular function. Such switchable structures can find use as mechanical actuators, motors, sensors and even computational elements. |
Biochemical circuits  | Biochemical processes such as DNA hybridization, enzymatic catalysis, or gene transcription can be exploited to implement biomolecular analogues of electronic logic circuits and signal processing. For instance, the production or release of certain biomolecules can be made dependent on the evaluation of "diagnostic" computational rules. The realization of artificial biochemical circuits holds great promise for the development of advanced biosensors, but also for re-programming of biological systems ("synthetic biology").
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Nanopores 
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