Paul W. K.
Rothemund
Paul Wilhelm Karl Rothemund is a research
professor at the Computation and Neural Systems Paul Rothemund
department at Caltech.[1] He has become known in the Nationality American
fields of DNA nanotechnology and synthetic biology Alma mater Caltech
for his pioneering work with DNA origami. He shared University of Southern California
both categories of the 2006 Feynman Prize in Known for DNA origami
Nanotechnology with Erik Winfree for their work in
Awards Feynman Prize in
creating DNA nanotubes, algorithmic molecular self-
Nanotechnology;
assembly of DNA tile structures, and their theoretical
MacArthur Fellowship
work on DNA computing.[2] Rothemund is also a 2007
recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.[3] Scientific career
Institutions Caltech
Life
Rothemund graduated from Laconia High School, New Hampshire, in 1990. He was the team captain of
the championship Laconia team for the television quiz show Granite State Challenge. After graduating,
Rothemund studied as an undergraduate at Caltech from 1990–1994, where he was a resident and
member of Ricketts House. He attained his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2001.
As a research fellow at Caltech, Rothemund has developed a technique to manipulate and fold strands of
DNA known as DNA origami. Eventually, Rothemund hopes that self-assembly techniques could be used
to create a "programming language for molecules, just as we have programming languages for
computers."[4] His work on large-scale sculptures of his DNA origami was exhibited at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York from February 24 to May 12, 2008.[5]
His grandfather, Paul Rothemund, was a chemist as well.[6]
References
1. "Paul W.K. Rothemund official website" (http://www.dna.caltech.edu/~pwkr/). Retrieved
2007-12-28.
2. "2006 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize" (http://foresight.org/about/2006Feynman.html).
Foresight Institute. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
3. "Paul Rothemund" (http://www.macfound.org/fellows/835/). MacArthur Foundation. 18
January 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
4. Pelesko, John A. (2007). Self assembly: the science of things that put themselves together
(https://archive.org/details/selfassemblyscie00pele). Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis. p. 259 (h
ttps://archive.org/details/selfassemblyscie00pele/page/n282). ISBN 978-1584886877.
5. Eischeid, John (11 April 2008). "When Art and Science Meet, Nanoscale Smiley Faces
Abound" (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=dna-origami). Scientific
American. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
6. Chang, Chi K. (2016). "Paul Rothemund and S. Ferguson MacDonald, and their Namesake
Reactions—The Influence of the Fischer School on my Life in Porphyrin Chemistry". Israel
Journal of Chemistry. 56 (2/3): 130–143. doi:10.1002/ijch.201500043 (https://doi.org/10.100
2%2Fijch.201500043).
External links
Paul Rothemund's home page (http://www.dna.caltech.edu/~pwkr/)
March 2006 Nature paper on DNA origami (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n708
2/abs/nature04586.html)
March 2007 TED Talk (http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/183)
September 2008 TED Talk (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_rothemund_details_dn
a_folding.html)
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