In this talk, I introduce our experimental attempts to design artificial chemical reaction-diffusion systems that mimic pattern formations and other phenomena of the early stage of biological development especially inspired by those of Drosophila. To realize the system in a designable manner, we exploited DNA molecules as a versatile material or building blocks. The advantage of using DNA is its programmability where interactions among DNA molecules can be designed in a sequence of its components called bases [1]. By placing DNA molecules with well-designed base sequences in a mold of hydrogel, we have successfully observed pattern transformation [2], cascaded pattern formation [3-4], and materialization of DNA. I will also share and discuss our recent experimental results where materialized DNA hydrogel actuates and show a wrinkling pattern. I believe that our approach will pave the way to develop a smart material designed from a molecular level, which can shape itself autonomously. 

[1] Thanapop Rodjanapanyakul, Fumi Takabatake, Keita Abe, Ibuki Kawamata, Shin-ichiro M. Nomura, Satoshi Murata, Diffusion modulation of DNA by toehold exchange, Physical Review E, Vol. 97, Issue 5, pp. 052617, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.052617 
[2] Takuto Hosoya, Ibuki Kawamata, Shin-ichiro M. Nomura, Satoshi Murata, Pattern Formation on Discrete Gel Matrix based on DNA Computing, New Generation Computing, Vol. 37, Issue 1, pp. 97-111, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00354-018-0047-1 
[3] Keita Abe, Satoshi Murata, Ibuki Kawamata*, Cascaded pattern formation in hydrogel medium using the polymerisation approach, Soft Matter, Vol. 17, Issue 25, pp. 6160-6167, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SM00296A 
[4] Keita Abe, Ibuki Kawamata, Shin-ichiro M. Nomura, Satoshi Murata, Programmable reactions and diffusion using DNA for pattern formation in hydrogel medium, Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 639-643, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9ME00004F