DNA and Glass Unite to Create a Supermaterial Stronger Than Steel but Light as Air

What if we told you that your body’s DNA — the same genetic code that makes you who you are — can also be used to create one of the world’s strongest materials? And what if this material is not only stronger than steel but also incredibly light, like a puff of air? Sounds like science fiction? It’s not.

A team of scientists from Columbia University, the University of Connecticut, and Brookhaven National Laboratory have made a stunning breakthrough in material science. They’ve created a new material by combining DNA and glass, two substances that seem worlds apart. The result? A super-light, ultra-strong material that could revolutionize industries from aerospace to medical devices.

DNA and Glass Unite to Create a Supermaterial Stronger Than Steel but Light as Air

Why Do We Need Such a Material?

Modern industries — especially in defense, aerospace, automotive, and healthcare — constantly search for materials that are both lightweight and strong. Traditional materials like steel offer strength but add a lot of weight. Plastics are light but not always strong enough.

This new DNA-glass hybrid could be the answer to this long-standing problem. It combines the best of both worlds: the lightness of foam and the strength of metal.

The Unlikely Ingredients: DNA and Glass

You might be wondering — how can something as delicate as DNA and as brittle as glass create a strong material?

Let’s break it down:

DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is more than just a genetic blueprint. It’s also a polymer — a substance made of repeating units, like beads on a string. Polymers are often used to create flexible and durable materials like plastics and rubbers.
Glass, especially silica-based glass, is typically brittle and breaks under pressure. But when handled at an ultra-small scale, its behavior changes.

So the scientists thought: What if we build a tiny, intricate framework using DNA and then cover it with an ultra-thin layer of glass?

How Did They Do It?

The research team created complex 3D nano-structures using DNA. Think of it like building a scaffold or framework out of microscopic DNA building blocks. DNA’s natural ability to self-assemble makes it perfect for this job.

Once they had this delicate DNA lattice, they coated it with a thin layer of silica glass — just 5 nanometers thick. To give you an idea, that's a layer just a few hundred atoms wide. Because the coating is so thin and uniform, it doesn’t crush or damage the delicate DNA structure underneath.

The result? A hollow, glass-covered structure that is extremely lightweight but remarkably strong.

Why Small Is Stronger

You might wonder — isn’t glass supposed to break easily? That’s true for regular-sized glass, like what you see in windows or phone screens. But when glass is created at nano-scale, it behaves differently.

At such tiny sizes, flaws and cracks — which weaken larger glass pieces — are practically non-existent. This makes the material much stronger than you’d expect from something made of glass.

Testing the Strength: Nanoindentation

To test the strength of this tiny wonder material, scientists used a technique called nanoindentation. It works like this:

A super-fine tip (even smaller than a human hair) presses into the material.
At the same time, special microscopes measure how the material resists the pressure.

Since the samples were just a few microns thick (a micron is a thousandth of a millimeter), traditional methods of testing wouldn’t work.

According to Aaron Michelson, a postdoctoral researcher at Brookhaven Lab:

“Nanoindentation is a mechanical test on a very small scale. Using an electron microscope, we could observe how the material deforms under pressure — and it held up incredibly well.”

The Jaw-Dropping Results

The glass-coated DNA structures were not just durable — they were four times stronger than steel and nearly five times lighter. That’s an incredible achievement in material science.

Imagine a bridge, an aircraft, or even a surgical implant that weighs far less but is significantly stronger than anything we use today. The potential applications are endless.

Why This Matters

This development isn’t just a cool science trick. It could change how we build everything — from drones and cars to satellites and prosthetic limbs.

Here’s why this is so important:

In Aerospace: Every gram counts. Lighter but stronger materials could make aircraft and rockets more fuel-efficient.
In Medicine: Lightweight and biocompatible materials are ideal for implants and prosthetics.
In Construction: Super-strong building materials could lead to safer and more sustainable structures.
In Defense: Creating armor and military vehicles that are strong yet agile is crucial for performance and safety.

Challenges Ahead

As exciting as this new material is, there are still some challenges to overcome:

Scaling Up Production
- Right now, the process works well on a small, nano-scale. But creating large pieces of this material for industrial use will be more complex and expensive.
Cost and Time
- The precision required to build DNA structures and coat them in glass isn’t cheap or fast. Making the process cost-effective for commercial use will be key.
Durability in Real Conditions
- The material performs well under controlled lab tests, but scientists still need to test how it handles real-world conditions — like extreme heat, cold, moisture, or UV light.

A Glimpse Into the Future

Despite the hurdles, this breakthrough opens a fascinating door. We’re no longer limited by conventional materials like steel, aluminum, or carbon fiber. Instead, nature’s own building blocks — like DNA — can be engineered to create futuristic materials.

This approach — using biology as a design template and then reinforcing it with hard materials like glass — could launch an entirely new field called “biomimetic materials”.

In other words, we’re learning from nature and pushing it even further with science.

What’s Next?

The researchers have published their findings in Cell Reports Physical Science and are now exploring:

Alternative coatings: Could other materials work better than glass?
Larger structures: How can they create bigger components using this technique?
Real-world applications: Which industries are best suited to use this new material?

Conclusion: A Scientific Game-Changer

This isn’t just another lab experiment. It’s a proof of concept that could lead to the next generation of super-materials. By combining DNA’s natural architecture with the strength of glass, scientists have opened up possibilities we couldn’t even imagine a few decades ago.

From lighter planes to safer cars, from better prosthetics to stronger buildings — this discovery could shape the materials of tomorrow. And it all started with two very unlikely partners: DNA and glass.

Reference: Aaron Michelson, Tyler J. Flanagan, Seok-Woo Lee, Oleg Gang, "High-strength, lightweight nano-architected silica", Cell Reports Physical Science, 4(7), 101475, July 19, 2023. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(23)00254-0

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

For years, scientists believed that adding even one qubit (a unit of quantum information) to a black hole needed energy. This was based on the idea that a black hole’s entropy must increase with more information, which means it must gain energy. But a new study by Jonah Kudler-Flam and Geoff Penington changes that thinking. They found that quantum information can be teleported into a black hole without adding energy or increasing entropy . This works through a process called black hole decoherence , where “soft” radiation — very low-energy signals — carry information into the black hole. In their method, the qubit enters the black hole while a new pair of entangled particles (like Hawking radiation) is created. This keeps the total information balanced, so there's no violation of the laws of physics. The energy cost only shows up when information is erased from the outside — these are called zerobits . According to Landauer’s principle, erasing information always needs energy. But ...

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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy