Abstract:DNA nanotechnology is the design and manufacture of artificial nucleic acid structures for technological uses. A central challenge of DNA nanotechnology is to efficiently design and construct well-defined functional structures and devices at the nano scale. Computational tools are the most powerful means of predicting, designing, modeling, and characterizing nucleic acid structure. Computer-aided design of nucleic acid structure and the identification of efficient self-assembly pathways have revealed nucleic acids as unique material for the construction of nano-components. In this review, we have summarized the principles of the DNA nanostructures design, and introduced some algorithms and user-friendly software for nucleic acid design. Meanwhile, the recent progress in DNA logic gates and DNA computing is also included.