Photo-editable macromolecular information

König, Niklas Felix; Ouahabi, Abdelaziz Al; Oswald, Laurence; Szweda, Róża; Charles, Laurence; Lutz, Jean‐François

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11566-2

Cited by 62 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…37 Yet, our group has reported very recently the sequence-directed photo-mutation of synthetic informational polymers. 38 Open challenges for polymer chemists. To attain polymer-based artificial Life (if attainable at all), major challenges lie ahead for polymer chemists.…”

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confidence: 99%

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Toward Artificial Life-Supporting Macromolecules

Lutz

2020

ACS Macro Lett.

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Terrestrial Life is based on polymers. In all known living organisms, DNA stores genetic information, mutates, self-replicates, and guides the synthesis of messenger molecules. Although the function of nucleic acids is well-understood, the development of artificial macromolecular mimics remains very limited. Laboratory-synthesized nucleic acids still support Life, and some nucleic acids analogues exhibit biological functions. Yet, after hundred years of polymer science, no other type of Life-supporting macromolecule (i.e., non-nucleic acids) has ever been reported. In this context, the aim of the present viewpoint is to discuss important challenges that shall be addressed by polymer chemists to achieve artificial Life. Similarly to DNA, an artificial Life-supporting macromolecule shall store information, transfer information, and mutate. Many tools, such as sequence-defined polymer synthesis, polymer modification, supramolecular polymer chemistry, and dynamic chemistry, are already available to chemists to attain these properties. However, the design of artificial Life-supporting macromolecules is hindered by two main factors. First, the chemical search space is enormous, and it is difficult to predict promising structures, even with the help of combinatorial and chemoinformatic tools. Second, rational design is probably a limited approach to achieve macromolecules that shall be involved in nonequilibrium metabolic systems. Hence, a synergic combination of classical polymer chemistry with the more recent field of systems chemistry is probably the key toward the emergence of artificial Life-supporting macromolecules.

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confidence: 99%

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Toward Artificial Life-Supporting Macromolecules

Lutz

2020

ACS Macro Lett.

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“…However, it is already possible to perform discrete monomer modifications in synthetic information‐containing macromolecules. For instance, our group has recently reported that light can be used as a simple trigger to induce molecular changes in sequence‐coded poly(phosphodiester)s . Such a concept is inspired by irradiation‐mediated mutagenesis and enables site‐directed mutations in synthetic polymers.…”

Section: Synthetic Chemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Life Emerge from Synthetic Polymers?

Lutz

2019

Israel Journal of Chemistry

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Synthetic chemistry has drastically progressed during the last few decades. Like in DNA, it is now possible to synthesize abiotic macromolecules with precisely‐controlled sequences of monomers. Artificial systems allowing hybridization and information transfer have been described. Simple metabolism models have also been prepared and investigated. Thus, the creation of minimal artificial life forms appears as a (still relatively far) but possibly reachable objective. In this context, the aim of the present essay is to discuss recent achievement and future challenges towards man‐induced abiogenesis. In terms of polymer design, a synthetic macromolecule that would support Life as DNA do would require at least all the following properties: (i) information‐storage capacity, (ii) information‐transfer ability and (iii) the possibility to evolve through molecular mutations. Recent advances in that direction are summarized herein. However, Life is not only a matter of macromolecular design. In order to operate, a self‐replicator shall co‐exist with other molecules in non‐equilibrium conditions. Hence, systems chemistry aspects are also discussed in this essay.

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“…[ 10,17 ] To date, only a limited number of approaches using sequence‐defined macromolecules have been developed for the specific purpose of data encryption. [ 16,27,28 ] For instance, Lutz and co‐workers reported the use of sequence‐defined poly(alkoxyamine amide)s for the encoding and decoding of information, which can be read‐out via tandem mass spectrometric (MS) analysis. [ 27 ] Their study was completed by the total and uncontrolled erasing of the information using thermally induced degradation of the polymeric structure, which they claimed to be potentially easier to sequence than using biopolymers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Sequence‐Defined Macromolecules to Macromolecular Pin Codes

et al. 2020

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Dynamic sequence‐defined oligomers carrying a chemically written pin code are obtained through a strategy combining multicomponent reactions with the thermoreversible addition of 1,2,4‐triazoline‐3,5‐diones (TADs) to indole substrates. The precision oligomers are specifically designed to be encrypted upon heating as a result of the random reshuffling of the TAD‐indole covalent bonds within the backbone, thereby resulting in the scrambling of the encoded information. The encrypted pin code can eventually be decrypted following a second heating step that enables the macromolecular pin code to be deciphered using 1D electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS). The herein introduced concept of encryption/decryption represents a key advancement compared with current strategies that typically use uncontrolled degradation to erase and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to analyze, decipher, and read‐out chemically encrypted information. Additionally, the synthesized macromolecules are coated onto a high‐value polymer material, which demonstrates their potential application as coded product tags for anti‐counterfeiting purposes.

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Photo-editable macromolecular information

Cited by 62 publications

References 39 publications

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Toward Artificial Life-Supporting Macromolecules

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Toward Artificial Life-Supporting Macromolecules

Can Life Emerge from Synthetic Polymers?

From Sequence‐Defined Macromolecules to Macromolecular Pin Codes

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