Bio-nanoengineering to detect and antagonize multidrug-resistant pathogens

The emerging field of bio-nanoengineering provides us with novel tools to exploit biological mechanisms and machineries and allows us to engineer complex molecular systems for a manifold of applications. An important application area concerns infectious diseases that are still a major threat to our health and one of the leading causes of death. In this thesis, established and new diagnostic technologies to characterise pathogens and antibiotic resistances will be presented. A special focus will be put on high-multiplex technologies. The versatility of DNA and its use as a biomarker, enzyme, target-binding molecule, and building material is discussed. Aptamers and DNA origami are especially fascinating examples for DNA-based tools. The modelling of complex molecular systems requires a diverse set of in silico tools and is also presented in this thesis