Synthesis of Programmable Reaction-Diffusion Fronts Using DNA Catalyzers
A.S. Zadorin
,
Y. Rondelez
,
J.C. Galas
,
A. Estevez-Torres
Phys. Rev. Lett.,
114, 6
Published 09 Feb. 2015
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.068301
ISSN: 0031-9007
Abstract
We introduce a DNA-based reaction-diffusion (RD) system in which reaction and diffusion terms can be precisely and independently controlled. The effective diffusion coefficient of an individual reaction component, as we demonstrate on a traveling wave, can be reduced up to 2.7-fold using a self-assembled hydrodynamic drag. The intrinsic programmability of this RD system allows us to engineer, for the first time, orthogonal autocatalysts that counterpropagate with minimal interaction. Our results are in excellent quantitative agreement with predictions of the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piscunov model. These advances open the way for the rational engineering of pattern formation in pure chemical RD systems.