Development of stimuli-responsive porous DNA crystals

Research Project

Project/Area Number	16H06036
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Functional solid state chemistry
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	SATO Hiroshi 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 講師 (20598586)
Research Collaborator	Huang Hubiao
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
Budget Amount *help	¥26,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥20,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥6,000,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥8,190,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,890,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥13,650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥10,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,150,000)
Keywords	結晶 / 配位高分子 / らせん転位 / らせん成長 / 多孔性結晶 / 多孔体 / 生体高分子 / 結晶化 / 多孔性材料 / 刺激応答性 / らせん / DNA / 多孔性 / 応答性
Outline of Final Research Achievements	"Crystallization" of a substance is a universally important technology in various research fields, regardless of whether it is inorganic, organic, inorganic-organic complex, or biomaterial, and it is a problem that has plagued researchers for many years. A widely accepted crystallization process involves the steps of "nucleation → crystal growth". While advancing this research subject, I accidentally encountered a phenomenon in which "topological defects (screw dislocations)" hold the key to nucleation and crystal growth. Although it was completely different from the "dynamic porous material" originally planned, it was the discovery of a new phenomenon common to crystalline materials.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究の独創性・新規性は以下の通り。（１）「結晶中の位置特異的ならせん転位（トポロジカル欠陥）をきっかけとする複合結晶成長」はこれまでまったく知られていない現象であり、本研究での発見である。（２）複合結晶成長は複雑な工程を必要とせず、自発的な成長機構に基づいている。（３）構造的な特異性だけでなく、物性についても萌芽的な発見を既に見出している。様々な分野で普遍的に重要である「結晶化」の理解に多大な貢献をもたらすことは言うまでも無い。