Combinatorial Displacement of DNA Strands: Application to Matrix Multiplication and Weighted Sums

摘要

Programming interactions through DNA base sequence design underlies the use of synthetic oligonucleotides in molecular computing. Toehold-mediated strand displacement is often used to orchestrate hybridization reactions that compute. In this mechanism, a DNA strand is displaced from a duplex by an invading strand which hybridizes first to an overhanging single-stranded "toehold" domain. Toehold hybridization provides a thermodynamic driving force and accelerates strand displacement. The mechanism has applications in molecular computation, DNA-templated chemistry, autonomous machinery, detection of specific nucleic acid sequences, and in the actuation of DNA structures.