Relaying information on DNA tiles: Arrays of modular DNA units can relay information by transforming their internal shape in response to binding of DNA trigger strands. Song et al. synthesized rectangular arrays of double-stranded DNA (see the Perspective by Yang and Lin). Transient square configurations transform into two stable rectangular structures by pinching across a pair of opposing vertices. Binding of DNA trigger strands causes switching into the alternative stable configuration. The tiles thus create a cascade of transformations along a particular pathway, thereby transmitting information about where binding occurred. Science , this issue p. eaan3377 ; see also p. 352

The ability to assemble functional materials with precise spatial arrangements is important for applications ranging from protein crystallography to photovoltaics. Here, we describe a general framework for constructing two-dimensional crystals with prescribed depths and sophisticated three-dimensional features. The crystals are self-assembled from single-stranded DNA components called DNA bricks. We demonstrate the experimental construction of DNA brick crystals that can grow to micrometre size in their lateral dimensions with precisely controlled depths up to 80 nm. They can be designed to pack DNA helices at angles parallel or perpendicular to the plane of the crystal and to display user-specified sophisticated three-dimensional nanoscale features, such as continuous or discontinuous cavities and channels.