2:00–3:00 pm
Self-assembled mesoscale life: controlling patterns, mechanics, and reactions using DNA liquids
Cells operate by coordinating reactions to occur at the right time and in the right place. One remarkable way that cells organize biomolecules to perform reactions is by utilizing the physics of binodal coexistence, called 'liquid-liquid phase separation' (LLPS). The complexity of living systems suggests that developing controlled model systems would assist in investigating such complex dynamics and structures. LLPS model systems built from DNA nanostars can harness the design power of nucleic acids to display a range of near-equilibrium dynamical and structural behaviors, including spatial patterning, nucleation dynamics, size control, and switchable gel mechanics. Finally, inspired by transcriptional condensates in the cell nucleus, we develop a non-equilibrium model system in which nanostar condensation controls and can be controlled by in vitro transcription reactions. Precise model LLPS systems composed of enzymatically active droplets will not only illuminate general organizational principles in living systems, but will also enable the development of new modes of transport for biomolecular information, mechanical stress, and light through phase-separated composite materials.
Speaker: Dr. Samuel Wilken, University of California Santa Barbara
Host: Prof. Heinrich Jaeger, Dept. of Physics (jaeger@uchicago.edu)