On the left, a snapshot of the simulated system - a dense solution of supercoiled plasmid. On the right, a more detailed view of the supercoiled fluid showing entanglements between the molecules.
On the left, a snapshot of the simulated system - a dense solution of supercoiled plasmid. On the right, a more detailed view of the supercoiled fluid showing entanglements between the molecules. Davide Michieletto, University of Edinburgh and Jan Smrek, University of Vienna) - While DNA is often idealised as the "molecule of life", it is also a highly sophisticated polymer that can be used for next-generation materials. Beyond the fact that it can store information, further fascinating aspects of DNA are its geometric and topological properties, such as knotting and super-coiling. Indeed, very much like a twisted telephone cord, DNA is often found coiled up inside bacteria and other cells and even knotted in viruses. Now, a collaboration of scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh, San Diego and Vienna have started to harness these properties to craft "topologically tunable" DNA-based complex fluids and soft materials with potential applications in drug delivery and tissue regeneration as published in Science Advances. The well-known double helical shape of DNA has profound implications on its behaviour.
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