Researchers chart future of nucleic acid nanotechnology

Trapped in a microscopic cage made of strands of DNA, molecules of a life-saving drug course through the bloodstream of a cancer patient. Only when receptors on the strands sense they've arrived at the right location—cancer cells overproducing a particular protein or exhibiting other abnormal behavior—does the cage pop open, delivering the anti-cancer drug exactly where it's needed and leaving the patient's healthy cells unscathed.