Toward living nanomachines

Item Type:	Book Section
Title:	Toward living nanomachines
Creators Name:	Mast, C. and Möller, F. and Kreysing, M. and Schink, S. and Obermayer, B. and Gerland, U. and Braun, D.
Abstract:	How does inanimate matter become transformed into animate matter? Living systems evolve by replication and selection at the molecular level and this chapter considers how to establish a synthetic, minimal system that can support molecular evolution and thus life. Molecular evolution cannot be explained by starting with high concentrations of activated chemicals that react toward their chemical equilibrium; persistent non-equilibria are required to maintain continuous reactivity and we especially consider thermal gradients as an early driving force for Darwinian molecular evolution. The temperature difference across water-filled compartments implements a laminar fluid convection with periodic temperature oscillations that allow for the melting and replication of DNA. Simultaneously, dissolved molecules are moved along the thermal gradient by an effect called thermophoresis. The combined result is an efficient molecule trap that exponentially favors long over short DNA and thus maintains complexity. Future experiments will reveal how thermal gradients could actively drive the Darwinian process of replication and selection.
Keywords:	Living Matter, Non-Equilibrium, Molecular Evolution, Synthetic Life, Origin of Life, Thermophoresis, Convection, PCR, Thermal Trap
Source:	Living machines: a handbook of research in biomimetic and biohybrid systems
Title of Book:	Living machines: a handbook of research in biomimetics and biohybrid systems
ISBN:	9780199674923
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Page Range:	380-389
Date:	2018
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199674923.003.0039

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