Macromolecular crowding could help build artificial cell systems
Macromolecular crowding can serve as a design tool for controlling the formation and organization of synthetic DNA droplets, a study from Science Tokyo reveals.
Macromolecular crowding can serve as a design tool for controlling the formation and organization of synthetic DNA droplets, a study from Science Tokyo reveals.
The short version
- Researchers investigated this strategy using DNA nanostars and polymeric crowding agents to mimic the crowded cellular environment.
- They found that crowding promoted droplet formation and enabled control over droplet size, interactions and organization.
- The findings could support the development of programmable artificial cell systems.
What happened
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Macromolecular crowding can serve as a design tool for controlling the formation and organization of synthetic DNA droplets, a study from Science Tokyo reveals.
Why it matters
Scientists from the Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan, have investigated this aspect using synthetic Y-shaped branched DNA nanostructures called DNA nanostars, which self-assemble into liquid-like DNA droplets.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.