Fig. 1

Schematic illustration of the modular design. a Scaffold strand is represented as blue lines (simplified to show its pathway clearly). Scaffold crossovers are aligned at the cross-section, and these sections are located at regular intervals. A module region, shown as green-shaded area, is located in between the scaffold crossover seams. Basically, all the helices of the structure module are double-stranded and all possible staple crossover positions are connected. b The hinge module can be made by removing the staples in the structure module, while unbound scaffold ssDNAs at the module remained at the cross-section. By controlling the number of dsDNA and staple crossovers, bending stiffness of the hinge module can be adjusted. Seam region maintained with full connection throughout the modification in order to ensure structural stability. c A 12-helix honeycomb-latticed bundle design to illustrate the method of controlling the shape of the structure. To make a bent structure from the straight one, staples of the structure module were removed and the adjuster module component was changed in order to make a shorter adjuster strand. Excessive strut staples were eliminated