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SELF-ORGANIZATION

Dissipative DNA fibres

Nature Chemistry volume 13, pages 817–818 (2021)Cite this article

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Self-organization — ubiquitous in living systems — occurs out-of-equilibrium, with dissipation of energy and matter. Researchers have now shown that slow proton dissipation switches the assembly of DNA-based fibres to a growth mechanism that heals their gaps, yielding tight nanocable architectures.

Nature is wealthy in self-organized chemical systems, in which molecular components spontaneously assemble to form organized architectures whose spatio-temporal order imparts emergent functional properties. Indeed, in living systems biomolecular constructs self-organize out of equilibrium — that is, far from thermodynamic equilibrium — since these are open systems with continuous exchanges of energy, matter and information with the environment. To cite one example, the polymerization of actin proteins and the hierarchical assembly of actin filaments are self-organization processes regulated by ATP hydrolysis, acting as a fuel. The dynamics of self-organization is essential for an adaptable network of actin filaments, which are a major component of the cell skeleton.

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Fig. 1: Sketch of the dissipative self-organization process to heal the gaps of DNA-based fibres.

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  1. Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Mons – UMONS, Mons, Belgium

    Mathieu Surin

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  1. Mathieu Surin
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Correspondence to Mathieu Surin.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Surin, M. Dissipative DNA fibres. Nat. Chem. 13, 817–818 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00774-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00774-3

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