title: Microscopic agents programmed by DNA circuits.
abstract: Information stored in synthetic nucleic acids sequences can be used in vitro to create complex reaction networks with precisely programmed chemical dynamics. Here, we scale up this approach to program networks of microscopic particles (agents) dispersed in an enzymatic solution. Agents may possess multiple stable states, thus maintaining a memory and communicate by emitting various orthogonal chemical signals, while also sensing the behaviour of neighbouring agents. Using this approach, we can produce collective behaviours involving thousands of agents, for example retrieving information over long distances or creating spatial patterns. Our systems recapitulate some fundamental mechanisms of distributed decision making and morphogenesis among living organisms and could find applications in cases where many individual clues need to be combined to reach a decision, for example in molecular diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: LIMMS, CNRS, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 153-8505 Tokyo, Japan.|Laboratoire Gulliver, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gines
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Gulliver, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.|Laboratoire Jean Perrin, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR 8237, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Zadorin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Jean Perrin, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR 8237, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: J-C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Galas
authors.affiliation: LIMMS, CNRS, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 153-8505 Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Jean Perrin, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR 8237, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estevez-Torres
authors.affiliation: LIMMS, CNRS, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 153-8505 Tokyo, Japan.|Laboratoire Gulliver, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rondelez
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical
chemical_list: D004247:DNA