Coarse-grained DNA models

The DNA molecule is the primary information repository that underlies life's complexity. Recent years have seen two big conceptual advances. Firstly, DNA's biological role depends on its detailed biomechanical properties, rather than just the sequences of amino acids coded for by its bases. Secondly, the exquisite selectivity of DNA base-pairing has been harnessed to create rationally-designed self-assembled structures, machines and computational devices. We present a coarse-grained model, oxDNA, that is powerful enough to provide insight in both areas. We discuss recent results that explain puzzling data in stress-induced transitions, and demonstrate that oxDNA allows rational guidance of reaction kinetics for key nanotechnological processes.