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The lack of structural definition in nanomedicines limits therapeutic efficacy and complicates regulatory approval. Here, we emphasize that defining, designing and optimizing the structures

of nanomedicines are critical  to developing effective therapies because their architectures — not just the identity of their components — determines potency. Access through your institution

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DNA assemblies programmed from the top down. _Science_ 352, 1534 (2016). Article  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research reported in this publication was supported by

the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under awards R01CA257926 and R01CA275430, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney

Diseases (NIDDK) of the NIH under award U54DK137516. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. This work was

supported through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (award HDTRA1-21-1-0038). This work was also supported by The Lefkofsky Family Foundation and Edgar H. Bachrach through the Bachrach

Family Foundation. C. A. M. is a CZ Biohub Investigator. The authors acknowledge the following individuals for feedback and/or help in preparing figures: E. J. Berns, J. N. Bourgeois, A. M.

Cryer, A. Cushing, C. M. Forsyth, Y. Ma, K. Ngo, S. H. Petrosko and M.H. Teplensky. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston,

IL, USA Chad A. Mirkin & Milan Mrksich * International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Chad A. Mirkin & Milan Mrksich * Department of

Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Chad A. Mirkin & Milan Mrksich * Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago,

IL, USA Chad A. Mirkin * CZ Biohub Chicago, LLC, Chicago, IL, USA Chad A. Mirkin * Department of Cellular & Developmental Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University,

Chicago, IL, USA Milan Mrksich * Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Department of Medicine, Division of Engineering in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Natalie Artzi * Institute

for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Natalie Artzi * Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University,

Boston, MA, USA Natalie Artzi Authors * Chad A. Mirkin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Milan Mrksich View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Natalie Artzi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHORS Correspondence

to Chad A. Mirkin, Milan Mrksich or Natalie Artzi. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS C.A.M. has financial interests in Flashpoint Therapeutics; M.M. has financial interests in ModuMab

Therapeutics; and N.A. has financial interests in SpideRx, all of which could potentially benefit from the outcomes of this research. PEER REVIEW PEER REVIEW INFORMATION _Nature Reviews

Bioengineering_ thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE

Mirkin, C.A., Mrksich, M. & Artzi, N. The emerging era of structural nanomedicine. _Nat Rev Bioeng_ (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00306-5 Download citation * Published: 25

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