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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.04.13.718267

Far-from-equilibrium assembly of multimers through DNA-based catalytic templating

Mukherjee, R.·Mitra, M.·Jurinovic, K.·Juritz, J.·Ouldridge, T. E.
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Abstract

On-demand assembly of arbitrary, sequence-defined polymers from a pool of monomers is a major challenge in modern chemistry, towards which limited progress has been made. By contrast, biological systems routinely use information-bearing DNA and RNA templates to catalytically synthesize a precise, far-from-equilibrium ensemble of nucleic acid and protein sequences from the available pools of nucleoside triphosphates or aminoacyl-tRNAs. Inspired by these biological examples, we introduce an enzyme-free DNA strand displacement network in which single-stranded DNA sequences template the assembly of specific non-covalent DNA multimers of up to length five, under isothermal and autonomous conditions. The templates overcome product inhibition and can thereby catalyse the formation of a far-from-equilibrium ensemble of long-lived metastable products that are not otherwise addressable.

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Mukherjee, R., Mitra, M., Jurinovic, K., Juritz, J., Ouldridge, T. E.. 2026-04-15. Far-from-equilibrium assembly of multimers through DNA-based catalytic templating. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.13.718267

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