Non-equilibrium dynamics in nucleic acid sequence pools (A05)

Subject Area Biophysics
Term since 2024
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521256690
 

Project Description

Under prebiotic conditions, nucleic acid polymerization, replication, and degradation processes will likely have resulted in pools of nucleic acids with varying sequences, and thus varying interactions. In this project, we will study the dynamics of such nucleic acid pools under non-equilibrium driving, in particular their phoretic movement within salt gradients. We surmise that the dynamics in such gradients has led to the preferential accumulation of certain nucleic acid sequences over others, resulting in a primitive physical selection mechanism.
DFG Programme CRC/Transregios
Subproject of TRR 392:  Molecular evolution in prebiotic environments
Applicant Institution Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Project Head Professor Dr. Friedrich Simmel, since 1/2024