Nanostructures built from biomolecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA are attracting attention in many areas of biological and materials sciences. Such nanoscale engineering was pioneered with proteins, yet the use of DNA is rapidly gaining traction. What are the advantages of the different biopolymers and which is best suited for a given molecular structure, function or application? In this Review, we evaluate the different structural properties of proteins and nucleic acids, as well as possible designs and synthetic routes for functional nanostructures. By comparing protein engineering and DNA nanotechnology, we highlight molecular architectures that are relevant in biotechnology, biomedicine and synthetic biology research, and identify emerging areas for research such as hybrid materials composed of protein and DNA/RNA.

由生物分子（例如蛋白质，DNA和RNA）构建的纳米结构在生物和材料科学的许多领域引起了人们的关注。这种纳米级工程技术是蛋白质的开创性技术，但是DNA的使用正迅速受到关注。不同生物聚合物的优点是什么，最适合给定的分子结构，功能或应用？在这篇综述中，我们评估了蛋白质和核酸的不同结构特性，以及功能性纳米结构的可能设计和合成途径。通过比较蛋白质工程和DNA纳米技术，我们重点介绍了与生物技术，生物医学和合成生物学研究相关的分子架构，并确定了新兴的研究领域，例如由蛋白质和DNA / RNA组成的杂化材料。