Re:old non news (Score 5, Informative)

ned seeman at nyu has been doing this for years

That's certainly true - Ned Seeman is definitely the 'founding father' of the field, and has lab continues to be a driving force in this sort of research. However, while I'm not exactly an objective observer, I believe this paper offers a number of practical advances in the field, such as yield, ease of synthesis, rigidity, and adaptability.

it has little if any practical value; dna is VERY $$, and a delicate molecule that is destroyed by normal shipping temperatures (at least in tuscon)

This simply isn't true. DNA is shipped all over the place at room T (we ordered the DNA for this experiment from America), and in lyophilised form is very stable. It's less stable in solution, but you can make modifications to increase its stability. DNA tetrahedra in my experience are very stable. As for cost, you can buy the DNA for this kind of synthesis relatively cheaply, and DNA gets cheaper every year.