Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction -- Being Bioinspired -- DNA: molecular recognition and information storage -- Photophysics -- Nanoscale photonic devices -- Lipids: soft, dynamic containers -- Methodology -- Summary of publications -- Concluding remarks.

This thesis describes the evolving field of DNA nanotechnology, focusing on how biological structures and mechanisms constitute a basis for the design of novel technologies. It discusses how self-assembled, nanometer-scale DNA constructs can be functionalized using fluorescent labeling, and how applications are based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). --