  In recent years significant attention has been attracted to proposals which
utilize DNA for nanotechnological applications. Potential applications of these
ideas range from the programmable self-assembly of colloidal crystals, to
biosensors and nanoparticle based drug delivery platforms. In Chapter I we
introduce the system, which generically consists of colloidal particles
functionalized with specially designed DNA markers. The sequence of bases on
the DNA markers determines the particle type. Due to the hybridization between
complementary single-stranded DNA, specific, type-dependent interactions can be
introduced between particles by choosing the appropriate DNA marker sequences.
In Chapter II we develop a statistical mechanical description of the
aggregation and melting behavior of particles with DNA-mediated interactions.
In Chapter III a model is proposed to describe the dynamical departure and
diffusion of particles which form reversible key-lock connections. In Chapter
IV we propose a method to self-assemble nanoparticle clusters using DNA
scaffolds. A natural extension is discussed in Chapter V, the programmable
self-assembly of nanoparticle clusters where the desired cluster geometry is
encoded using DNA-mediated interactions. In Chapter VI we consider a
nanoparticle based drug delivery platform for targeted, cell specific
chemotherapy. In Chapter VII we present prospects for future research: the
connection between DNA-mediated colloidal crystallization and jamming, and the
inverse problem in self-assembly.
