Figure 1.

Schematic of the development of nucleic acid-based nanoparticle (NANP) technologies and their current applications. Structural motifs inspired by structure–activity studies of natural RNAs, computer-assisted design, or determined by SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) are used for the rational design of NANPs. NANPs can then be programmed for multiple applications for materials organization, sensors, and dynamic structures, or can be functionalized with therapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) or used to elicit a controlled immune response.