Controlled modification of wild-type proteins using DNA nanotools

Summary

This thesis is about the use of synthetic DNA for the chemical alteration of proteins. Synthetic DNA can be programmed to adopt various foldings, because it always forms the well-known A-T and C-G basepairs. These foldings sometimes cause the DNA to attain useable properties, such as being able to improve chemical reactions or to stick to specific types of molecules. We made use of these properties and designed DNA-based systems that can chemically modify proteins, find targets in complex mixtures and even have an on/off switch to regulate their output. These DNA systems lay a future path for a more widespread approach for the precise modification of natural proteins as well as the development of enzyme mimics.