Deis Robotics

Team Member Spotlight - Daniel Hariyanto!

Daniel is working at the Rogers Lab via a summer fellowship from the Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. He is conducting research in the field of DNA nanotech, where he investigates nanostructures called DNA nanostars. Specifically, he explores the thermodynamics of the phase separation of these structures and how these affect their material properties.

This research has implications in the fields of biology (specifically disease) and material science.

Phase separation of proteins and nucleic acids into liquid droplets play essential roles in the formation of membrane-less organelles within cells and are increasingly implicated in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS due to protein aggregation. Due to the inherently non-equilibrium features of the cell, investigating the thermodynamics of the multivalent interactions by which droplets form is difficult. However, model systems such as DNA nanostars show potential in overcoming these limitations.

In material science, this research on DNA nanostars can yield important information to synthesize biomimetic (biocompatible) colloidal particles with designed physiochemical properties in the future. These particles will be essential in more effective and controlled drug delivery systems.

The image below is a visual representation of 3-arm DNA nanostars with 8-nucleotide sticky-ends in various phases.
-- Taken from Sato, Y., Sakamoto, T., & Takinoue, M. (2020). Sequence-based engineering of dynamic functions of micrometer-sized DNA droplets. Science Advances, 6(23). doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba3471.