Nadrian Seeman - F1000 Section Head (since 18 July 2001)
Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA
BIOGRAPHY
Nadrian Seemanhttp://chemistry.fas.nyu.edu/object/nadriancseeman.html
Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Chemistry
B.S. University of Chicago; Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh; Postdoctoral research at Columbia University and MIT
Areas of Research/Interest: DNA Nanotechnology, Macromolecular Design and Topology, Biophysical Chemistry of Recombinational Intermediates, DNA-Based Computation, and Crystallography
Research Description: More than 25 years ago, Ned Seeman founded the field of Structural DNA Nanotechnology. This area of chemistry uses the information inherent in DNA for structural purposes. Branched DNA molecules that can be designed to self-assemble from synthetic strands are central to this effort. Cohesive ends allow them to assemble to produce polyhedra and nanotubes. In addition, DNA motifs have been used to produce 2D lattices that are characterized by atomic force microscopy. 3D lattices built the same way are studied by x-ray crystallography. The goal is to use DNA to scaffold other species, such as biological macromolecules and nanoelectronic components. This program has led to a variety of nanomechanical devices, including a translator, walkers and nanorobots. Other research involves DNA-based computation and self-replicating systems. A different program in the lab is concerned with characterizing intermediates in genetic recombination by the techniques of molecular biophysics.
Fellowships/Honors: Damon Runyon Fellow (1972-3), NIH Postdoctoral Fellow (1973-1976), Sidhu Award for RNA crystallography (1974), Basil O'Connor Fellow (1978-1981), NIH Research Career Development Award (1982-1987), Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology for the construction of DNA polyhedra (1995), Discover award in Emerging Technologies for DNA tinkertoys (1997), Honorary Distinguished Prof., Univ. Peruana Cayetano Heredia(1998-), Elected AAAS Fellow(1998), Margaret and Herman Sokol Award in the Sciences, for founding DNA nanotechnology (1999), Margaret and Herman Sokol Chair in Chemistry, New York University (2001-), Tulip Award in DNA-Based Computation (2004), Elected Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (2005), NIH MERIT Award (2005), Nanotech Briefs Nano50 Innovator Award for DNA nanotechnology (2005), World Technology Network Biotechnology Award (2005), Festschrift Volume, Nanotechnology: Science and Computation, (J.Chen, N.Jonoska, G.Rozenberg, Eds), Springer-Verlag, Berlin (2006)