Bath's group designs and assembles DNA- and RNA-based molecular machines and nanostructures (including DNA origami 'molecular signposts' for cryo-electron tomography), aiming to create probes of cellular structure and function and new disruptive technologies for molecular manufacturing.

Wickham builds DNA origami nanostructures — programmable, self-assembling scaffolds with nanometre-precision addressability — and uses them as molecular machines, drug-delivery vehicles and, most relevantly, as rulers and probes for single-molecule measurement. DNA origami is the standard platform for DNA-PAINT super-resolution and for positioning fluorophores, nanoparticles or spin labels at defined separations, and her group works on dynamic, reconfigurable devices that respond to biological triggers. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — DNA origami is the leading candidate technology for positioning target molecules at a controlled standoff from a near-surface NV ensemble, which is the central geometric problem in pushing NV nanoscale NMR and DEER from pT/sqrt(Hz) ensembles down to single-molecule sensitivity. Genuinely complementary skill set for a quantum-sensing candidate.