Chad A. Mirkin, Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, will give the plenary talk, “Programmable Materials and the Nature of the DNA Bond,” at the 2015 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting in Boston.

Mirkin’s group has shown that when densely functionalized to the surface of a nanoparticle, nucleic acids arrange into a conformal shell that can be used to reliably control the spacing and symmetry of nanoparticle interactions. By elucidating a series of design rules for the nature of DNA bonds, they have assembled over 30 unique nanoparticle superlattices with precise control over particle size, interparticle spacing, and crystal symmetry. Overall, the unique properties of the DNA bond facilitate unprecedented opportunities to study atomic crystallization and energy transfer between nanostructures, and have already shown promise in plasmonic, photonic, and catalytic applications.

Mirkin is a chemist and a nanoscience expert, who is known for his discovery and development of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) and SNA-based biodetection and therapeutic schemes, the invention of dip-pen nanolithography and related cantilever-free nanopatterning methodologies, On-Wire Lithography (OWL), coaxial lithography, and contributions to supramolecular chemistry and nanoparticle synthesis. He is the author of over 600 manuscripts and over 900 patent applications worldwide, and is the founder of multiple companies.

Mirkin is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (Obama administration), and the only chemist to be elected to all three US National Academies (Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering). He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and MRS.