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Mutations in artificial self-replicating tiles: A step toward Darwinian evolution.

Feng Zhou1, Ruojie Sha2, Heng Ni3

  • 1Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003; zfedward1988@gmail.com ned.seeman@nyu.edu chaikin@nyu.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|December 7, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Artificial DNA origami dimers evolve via Darwinian principles. A mutated species with a growth advantage can outcompete the original, demonstrating evolution for materials design.

Keywords:
Darwinian evolutionartificial self-replicationcross-tile DNA origamiexponential growthmutation

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Area of Science:

  • Synthetic Biology
  • Materials Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Artificial self-replication and exponential growth offer insights into natural processes.
  • DNA origami dimers have previously demonstrated exponential growth and selection.
  • Understanding evolutionary dynamics is key to developing novel materials and devices.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate Darwinian-like evolution in a DNA origami system by introducing mutation and growth advantages.
  • To explore the potential for engineered evolution in the design of new materials.

Main Methods:

  • A seeded DNA origami dimer species (AB) was grown from monomers, doubling each cycle.
  • An unseeded dimer species (CD) was introduced with varying replication rates (2 or 4 per cycle).
  • A low mutation rate was introduced, allowing AB to infrequently template CD offspring.

Main Results:

  • The CD species, possessing a growth advantage, successfully outcompeted the AB species.
  • The takeover occurred within approximately six generations in an advantageous environment.
  • This demonstrates the potential for a less fit species to evolve and dominate.

Conclusions:

  • Darwinian-like evolution can be experimentally demonstrated in artificial DNA origami systems.
  • Engineered evolution presents a viable strategy for the design and development of novel materials.
  • This work opens avenues for utilizing evolutionary principles in materials science.