Combining the diverse chemical functionality of proteins with the predictable structural assembly of nucleic acids has enabled the creation of hybrid nanostructures for a range of biotechnology applications. Through the attachment of proteins onto or within nucleic acid nanostructures, materials with dynamic capabilities can be created that include switchable enzyme activity, targeted drug delivery, and multienzyme cascades for biocatalysis. Investigations of difficult-to-study biological mechanisms have also been aided by using DNA–protein assemblies that mimic natural processes in a controllable manner. Furthermore, advances that enable the recombinant production and intracellular assembly of hybrid nanostructures have the potential to overcome the significant manufacturing cost that has limited the use of DNA and RNA nanotechnology.

将蛋白质的多种化学功能与可预测的核酸结构组装相结合，使得能够为多种生物技术应用创建杂交纳米结构。通过将蛋白质附着到核酸纳米结构之上或之内，可以创建具有动态功能的材料，其中包括可转换的酶活性，靶向药物递送以及用于生物催化的多酶级联反应。难以研究的生物学机制的研究也已经通过使用可控方式模拟自然过程的DNA蛋白质组装得到了帮助。此外，能够重组生产和混合纳米结构的细胞内组装的进展具有克服巨大生产成本的潜力，该生产成本限制了DNA和RNA纳米技术的使用。