Ashwin Gopinath
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering (MechE)
2020 SENSE.nano Symposium
Monday, September 21, 2020
Session 1: Cell and subcell
1:50PM – 2:05PM EST
Abstract
Arrays of individual molecules or nanoparticles can combine the advantage of microarrays and single-molecule experiments. They facilitate miniaturized high-throughput assays with low sample and reagent consumption while also revealing heterogeniety hidden in ensemble measurements. However, creating single molecule arrays are particularly difficult since conventional nano-fabrication techniques can't be used to organize individual molecules onto defined positions on a substrate. In this context 'DNA origami placement' is an appealing technique as it allows any molecule (or nanoparticle) that can be labeled with DNA to be organized on arbitrary substrates using standard lithographic processes. The challenge now becomes one of reducing cost, developing applications, and increasing the capabilities.
In this talk, Gopinath will introduce a bench-top technique to create cm-scale DNA origami nanoarrays that does not require any nanopatterning step, at a cost of $1 per cm2 and Gopinath will also discuss the application of this technique for point-of-care diagnostics. Finally, Gopinath will end by introducing strategies for performing non-aqueous organic reaction on immobilized DNA origami for creating arrays of extremely hydrophobic molecules.
Biography
Ashwin Gopinath joined MIT in Jan 2019 as an assistant professor in mechanical engineering where his lab is working on projects at the intersection of molecular self-assembly, surface-chemistry, CMOS nanofabrication and synthetic biology. Dr. Gopinath earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Boston University for his work on understanding light transport in disordered media. Subsequently, he was a senior research scientist at Caltech and then a research scientist at Google. Dr. Gopinath has co-authored 21 papers in journals like Nature, Science, and PNAS as well as received several awards, most recent of which is the 2017 Robert Dirk Prize in Molecular programming for his seminal contributions in merging DNA nanotechnology with conventional semiconductor nanofabrication.