Seeman receives World Technology Award

Nadrian Seeman, a chemist at New York U., has been named winner of the 2005 World Technology Award for Biotechnology by the World Technology Network. He was named the recipient after the organization stripped the initial winner, Woo Suk Hwang, of the honor after Hwang’s research on stem cells was found to be falsified.

Seeman and his colleagues at NYU developed the field of DNA nanotechnology. The systems they have produced enable the specific organization of a variety of other chemical species that are relevant to nanoelectronics, photonics, and drug design. They have also built machines that work on the nanoscale, such as a device that allows for the translation of DNA sequences, thereby serving as a factory for assembling the building blocks of new materials.