The DNA tweezers contain three strands: A, B and C. Strand A latches onto half of strand B and half of strand C, and so it joins them all together. Strand A acts as a hinge so that the two "arms" — AB and AC — can move. The structure floats with its arms open wide. They can be pulled shut by adding a fourth strand of DNA (D) "programmed" to stick to both of the dangling, unpaired sections of strands B and C. The closing of the tweezers was proven by tagging strand A at either end with light-emitting molecules that do not emit light when they are close together. To re-open the tweezers add a further strand (E) with the right sequence to pair up with strand D. Once paired up, they have no connection to the machine BAC, so float away. The DNA machine can be opened and closed repeatedly by cycling between strands D and E. These tweezers can be used for removing drugs from inside fullerenes as well as from a self assembled DNA tetrahedron. The state of the device can be determined by measuring the separation between donor and acceptor fluorophores using FRET.
