2026
The amount of data we produce is constantly growing. The limitations of current tools for storing this information are prompting us to consider new high-density storage solutions. Living organisms, with their genomic DNA, demonstrate that storage at the molecular level is possible. Inspired by this process, the MoleculArxiv* project aims to store information on a massive scale by synthesizing DNA or artificial polymers.
The objective of the internship will be to continue the developments carried out in the laboratory enabling the enzymatic synthesis of a given DNA strand, i.e., one for which the oligonucleotide sequence is chosen. This chosen sequence will constitute encoded information. Controlling the activity of the enzyme, which can be done by changing the pH, using photochemistry, etc., will enable this controlled synthesis. The validity and quality of the DNA strands will be characterized using quantitative PCR and nanopore sequencing in the laboratory.
* CNRS project MoleculArXiv - Massive data storage on DNA and artificial polymers - https://pepr-molecularxiv.fr/.
This experimental internship will take place at the Jean Perrin Laboratory at Sorbonne University, where our research group focuses on the molecular mechanisms of living organisms, particularly those responsible for the spatio-temporal organization. It is an interdisciplinary environment at the interface between biophysics, synthetic biology, soft matter physics, and molecular programming. We use a variety of tools for this experimental work, including nucleic acid and cytoskeletal protein biochemistry, PCR, nanopore sequencing, fluorescence microscopy, instrumentation, image analysis, and microfluidics.
Lobato-Dauzier N., Maitra A., Estevez-Torres A., Galas J.C., Confinement Determines Transport of a Reaction-Diffusion Active Matter Front, Physical Review X, 2025
B. Blanc, J. N. Agyapong, I. Hunter, J.-C. Galas, A. Fernandez-Nieves, S. Fraden, Collective chemomechanical oscillations in active hydrogels, PNAS, 2024
Galas J-C, Estévez-Torres A, Van Der Hofstadt M, Long-Lasting and Responsive DNA/Enzyme-Based Programs in Serum-Supplemented Extracellular Media, ACS Synthetic Biology, 2022
Senoussi A, Galas J-C, Estévez-Torres A, Programmed mechano-chemical coupling in reaction-diffusion active matter, Science Advances, 2021
Senoussi A, Kashida S, Voituriez R, Galas J-C, Maitra A, Estévez-Torres A, Tunable corrugated patterns in an active gel sheet, PNAS, 2019
Urtel G, Estévez-Torres A, Galas J-C, DNA-based long-lived reaction-diffusion patterning in a host hydrogel, Soft Matter, 2019
