A simple method to alter the binding specificity of DNA-coated colloids that crystallize.

DNA-coated colloids can crystallize into a multitude of lattices, ranging from face-centered cubic to diamond, opening avenues to producing structures with useful photonic properties. The potential design space of DNA-coated colloids is large, but its exploration is hampered by a reliance on chemically modified DNA that is slow and expensive to commercially synthesize. Here we introduce a method to controllably tailor the sequences of DNA-coated particles by covalently appending new sequence domains onto the DNA grafted to colloidal particles. The tailored particles crystallize as readily and at the same temperature as those produced