• Editors' Suggestion

Fundamental Costs in the Production and Destruction of Persistent Polymer Copies

Thomas E. Ouldridge and Pieter Rein ten Wolde
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 158103 – Published 11 April 2017
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Producing a polymer copy of a polymer template is central to biology, and effective copies must persist after template separation. We show that this separation has three fundamental thermodynamic effects. First, polymer-template interactions do not contribute to overall reaction thermodynamics and hence cannot drive the process. Second, the equilibrium state of the copied polymer is template independent and so additional work is required to provide specificity. Finally, the mixing of copies from distinct templates makes correlations between template and copy sequences unexploitable, combining with copying inaccuracy to reduce the free energy stored in a polymer ensemble. These basic principles set limits on the underlying costs and resource requirements, and suggest design principles, for autonomous copying and replication in biological and synthetic systems.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 21 July 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.158103

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Thomas E. Ouldridge1,* and Pieter Rein ten Wolde2

  • 1Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 2FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XE Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  • *t.ouldridge@imperial.ac.uk

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 15 — 14 April 2017

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×