Nadrian Seeman Explained

Nadrian C. Seeman
Birth Date:	16 December 1945
Birth Place:	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Fields:	Nanotechnology, Crystallography
Workplaces:	New York University
Alma Mater:	University of Chicago, University of Pittsburgh
Doctoral Students:	Hao Yan
Known For:	DNA nanotechnology
Awards:	Kavli Prize in Nanoscience William H. Nichols Medal Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry

Nadrian C. "Ned" Seeman (December 16, 1945 – November 16, 2021) was an American nanotechnologist and crystallographer known for inventing the field of DNA nanotechnology.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

Seeman studied biochemistry at the University of Chicago and crystallography at the University of Pittsburgh.^[3] He was a postdoctoral researcher with Alexander Rich at MIT. He became a faculty member at the State University of New York at Albany, and in 1988 moved to the Department of Chemistry at New York University.

He is most noted for his development of the concept of DNA nanotechnology beginning in the early 1980s.^[4] In fall 1980, while at a campus pub, Seeman was inspired by the M. C. Escher woodcut Depth to realize that a three-dimensional lattice could be constructed from DNA. He realized that this could be used to orient target molecules, simplifying their crystallographic study by eliminating the difficult process of obtaining pure crystals.^{[5] [6]} In pursuit of this goal, Seeman's laboratory published the synthesis of the first three-dimensional nanoscale object, a cube made of DNA, in 1991. This work won the 1995 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology.^[7] The concept of the dissimilar double DNA crossover introduced by Seeman,^[8] was important stepping stone towards the development of DNA origami. The goal of demonstrating designed three-dimensional DNA crystals was achieved by Seeman in 2009, nearly thirty years after his original elucidation of the idea.

The concepts of DNA nanotechnology later found further applications in DNA computing,^[9] DNA nanorobotics, and self-assembly of nanoelectronics. He shared the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience 2010 with Donald Eigler “for their development of unprecedented methods to control matter on the nanoscale.”^{[10] [11]} He was a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.^[12]

He was an atheist.^[13] Seeman died on November 16, 2021, at the age of 75.^[14]

Notable publications

• 10.1016/0022-5193(82)90002-9 . 6188926 . Nucleic acid junctions and lattices . 1982 . Seeman . N . Journal of Theoretical Biology . 99 . 2 . 237–47. 1982JThBi..99..237S . - Considered to be the earliest paper outlining the concepts of DNA nanotechnology^[15]
• 10.1038/350631a0 . 2017259 . Synthesis from DNA of a molecule with the connectivity of a cube . 1991 . Chen . Junghuei . Seeman . Nadrian C. . Nature . 350 . 6319 . 631–3. 1991Natur.350..631C . 4347988 . - The synthesis of the DNA cube
• Winfree . Erik . Liu, Furong . Wenzler, Lisa A. . Seeman, Nadrian C. . 6 August 1998. Design and self-assembly of two-dimensional DNA crystals . . 394 . 6693. 529–544 . 0028-0836 . 9707114. 10.1038/28998. 1998Natur.394..539W . 4385579 . - The synthesis of two-dimensional periodic lattices of double crossover molecules
• Mao . Chengde . Sun, Weiqiong . Shen, Zhiyong . Seeman, Nadrian C. . 14 January 1999. A DNA Nanomechanical Device Based on the B-Z Transition . . 397 . 6715. 144–146 . 0028-0836 . 9923675. 10.1038/16437. 4406177 . - The first DNA-based nanomechanical device
• Seeman . Nadrian C. . Nanotechnology and the double helix . . June 2004 . 64–75 . 15195395 . 290 . 6 . 10.1038/scientificamerican0604-64. 2004SciAm.290f..64S . - A popular science article explaining the field of DNA nanotechnology
• 10.1038/nature08274 . 2764300 . From molecular to macroscopic via the rational design of a self-assembled 3D DNA crystal . 19727196 . 2009 . Zheng . Jianping . Birktoft . Jens J. . Chen . Yi . Wang . Tong . Sha . Ruojie . Constantinou . Pamela E. . Ginell . Stephan L. . Mao . Chengde . Seeman . Nadrian C. . Nature . 461 . 7260 . 74–7. 2009Natur.461...74Z . - The synthesis of three-dimensional periodic lattices of tensegrity triangle molecules
• 10.1038/nature09026 . 2872101 . A proximity-based programmable DNA nanoscale assembly line . 20463734 . 2010 . Gu . Hongzhou . Chao . Jie . Xiao . Shou-Jun . Seeman . Nadrian C. . Nature . 465 . 7295 . 202–5. 2010Natur.465..202G . - A DNA-based molecular assembly line

See also

• History of DNA nanotechnology

External links

• Web site: Ned Seeman's Home Page. seemanlab4.chem.nyu.edu. 2018-06-05.

Notes and References

1. News: 8 Scientists Share $3 Million in Prizes . Dennis Overbye . The New York Times . 3 June 2010 .
2. Web site: NYU Chemistry Remembers Ned Seeman 1945-2021. 2021-11-18. New York University.
3. Web site: Ned's Biography. Nadrian Seeman lab .
4. Book: Pelesko, John A. . Self-assembly: the science of things that put themselves together . 2007 . Chapman & Hall/CRC . New York . 978-1-58488-687-7 . 201, 242, 259.
5. Seeman . Nadrian C. . Nanotechnology and the double helix . . June 2004 . 64–75 . 15195395 . 290 . 6 . 10.1038/scientificamerican0604-64. 2004SciAm.290f..64S .
6. See Nadrian Seeman's homepage, Current crystallization protocol for a statement of the problem, and Nadrian Seeman's homepage, DNA cages containing oriented guests for the proposed solution.
7. Web site: 1995 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology Awarded For Pioneering Synthesis of 3-D DNA Objects . The Foresight Institute . 30 November 1995 . 4 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120726185625/http://foresight.org/Updates/Update23/Update23.1.html#anchor415574 . 26 July 2012 . dead .
8. Fu. Tsu-Ju. Seeman. Nadrian. DNA Double-Crossover Molecules. Biochemistry. 1993. 32. 13. 3211–3220. 10.1021/bi00064a003. 8461289.
9. Ng . W. D. . Wong . C. K. B. . Self-Recognition of DNA: From Life Processes to DNA Computation. Biophysical Reviews and Letters. 2. 2. 123–137. 2007. 10.1142/S1793048007000490 . 20640192 . 2905173.
10. Web site: NYU Chemist Seeman Wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience . New York University . 3 June 2010.
11. Web site: Names of the 2010 Kavli Prize winners announced . The Kavli Prize . 2010-06-04 . 2012-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120628103241/http://www.kavliprize.no/nyheter/vis.html?tid=46747 . dead .
12. Web site: Gruppe 4: Kjemi. Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. no. 30 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20120303133407/http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40122. 3 March 2012. dead.
13. Web site: Nadrian C. Seeman life story . 2022-06-05 . www.kavliprize.org.
14. https://as.nyu.edu/chemistry/news/fall-2021/nyu-chemistry-remembers-ned-seeman-1945-2021.html NYU Chemistry Remembers Ned Seeman 1945–2021
15. Pinheiro . A. V. . Han . D. . Shih . W. M. . Yan . H. . Challenges and opportunities for structural DNA nanotechnology . Nature Nanotechnology . 6 . 12 . 763–772 . December 2011 . 22056726 . 3334823 . 10.1038/nnano.2011.187. 2011NatNa...6..763P .