title: An autonomous molecular assembler for programmable chemical synthesis.
abstract: Molecular machines that assemble polymers in a programmed sequence are fundamental to life. They are also an achievable goal of nanotechnology. Here, we report synthetic molecular machinery made from DNA that controls and records the formation of covalent bonds. We show that an autonomous cascade of DNA hybridization reactions can create oligomers, from building blocks linked by olefin or peptide bonds, with a sequence defined by a reconfigurable molecular program. The system can also be programmed to achieve combinatorial assembly. The sequence of assembly reactions and thus the structure of each oligomer synthesized is recorded in a DNA molecule, which enables this information to be recovered by PCR amplification followed by DNA sequencing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Muscat
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Mireya L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Phillip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Milnes
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.|Chemistry Branch, Department of Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez University, Suez 43721, Egypt.
authors.forename: Afaf H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: El-Sagheer
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bath
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: Benjamin G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6538-3036
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Turberfield
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D011108:Polymers; D004247:DNA