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DNA Reaction-Diffusion Attractor Patterns
Phillip James Dorsey1, Dominic Scalise1, Rebecca Schulman1,2
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|September 11, 2020
Summary
Scientists created self-regenerating chemical patterns using reaction-diffusion systems. These "attractor patterns" can reform their precise shapes after being disturbed, mimicking living systems.
Area of Science:
- Chemical kinetics
- Pattern formation
- Biomimicry
Background:
- Living organisms create complex chemical patterns with micron-scale precision.
- Understanding pattern regeneration is key to biomimicry and synthetic biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and demonstrate artificial chemical patterns that can self-regenerate.
- To investigate the principles of pattern formation and recovery in engineered reaction-diffusion systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized oligonucleotide reaction networks for chemical pattern generation.
- Employed photolithography and microfluidic delivery for precise control.
- Applied localized UV light perturbations to test pattern recovery.
Main Results:
- Successfully formed linear and "hill"-shaped attractor patterns with defined shapes and timescales.
- Demonstrated reliable pattern reformation after localized perturbations.
- Observed pattern recovery even after repeated disturbances.
Conclusions:
- Engineered far-from-equilibrium dynamics enable the creation of self-sustaining and regenerating molecular spatial patterns.
- Designed chemical systems can evolve towards specific steady-state configurations, mimicking biological pattern maintenance.
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