This tutorial review serves as an introduction to the use of oligonucleotides and in particular peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) to encode function beyond heredity. Applications in chemical biology are reviewed starting with the use of nucleic acid tags to program self-assembled microarrays of small and macromolecules, followed by the use of nucleic acid templated reactions for the purpose of DNA or RNA sensing and finally, the use of nucleic acid templates to display ligands.