title: Self-replication of DNA rings.
abstract: Biology provides numerous examples of self-replicating machines, but artificially engineering such complex systems remains a formidable challenge. In particular, although simple artificial self-replicating systems including wooden blocks, magnetic systems, modular robots and synthetic molecular systems have been devised, such kinematic self-replicators are rare compared with examples of theoretical cellular self-replication. One of the principal reasons for this is the amount of complexity that arises when you try to incorporate self-replication into a physical medium. In this regard, DNA is a prime candidate material for constructing self-replicating systems due to its ability to self-assemble through molecular recognition. Here, we show that DNA T-motifs, which self-assemble into ring structures, can be designed to self-replicate through toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions. The inherent design of these rings allows the population dynamics of the systems to be controlled. We also analyse the replication scheme within a universal framework of self-replication and derive a quantitative metric of the self-replicability of the rings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea.
authors.forename: Junghoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Sungkyunkwan Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea.
authors.forename: Junwye
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea [2] Sungkyunkwan Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ha Park
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004261:DNA Replication; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA