Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) are typically comprised of a nanoparticle core and a densely packed and highly oriented nucleic acid shell, typically DNA or RNA. These structures have novel architecture-dependent properties that distinguish them from all other forms of nucleic acids and that make them useful in applications, spanning materials synthesis, catalysis, diagnostics, therapeutics, and optics/plasmonics.
Edited by and with contributions from the editor, this book is reprint volume that compiles key papers in this research area that have been published by the Mirkin group at Northwestern University within the International Institute for Nanotechnology and collaborators over more than two decades. The editor is a field-leader in chemistry and nanoscience, who is well-known for inventing SNAs and developing them in the context of crystal engineering and biomedicine. This book will appeal to advanced students and researchers in chemistry, nanotechnology, materials science and engineering, and medicine.