DNA Rafts: An Information Processing Pathway for Synthetic Immunity

现在，对能够可靠地检测和响应分子制剂存在的技术的需求比以往任何时候都更加迫切。人类已经开发并依赖于能够识别与疾病途径有关的线索的技术，以及及时识别过敏原的技术，甚至能够精确定位污染物的存在。特别是，当前的全球形势突出了具有帮助管理公共卫生威胁的能力的快速和低成本病毒检测设备的重要性。经过数十亿年的进化，生物系统能够可靠地完成这些任务。因此，我建议利用它们作为灵感，开发一个创新的传感平台。通过借用物理学、化学和生物工程学的工具，我将创造人造细胞，这是一种由基本分子成分构建的生物启发系统，具有识别和应对病毒存在的能力。为此，我将用合成的DNA分子设计响应性结构，这种分子被称为DNA受体，它可以检测环境“信息”，并在合成细胞中触发反应。有了这样的战略，我将开发一种能够识别病毒存在并启动反应以中和它们并抑制病毒感染的技术。因此，作为具有免疫细胞功能的合成隔室，它很可能在临床领域找到智能诊断和治疗的应用。

The need for technologies with the ability to reliably detect and respond to the presence of molecular agents is now more pressing than ever. Humankind has developed and relied on technologies capable of identifying cues associated to disease pathways, as well for the timely identification of allergens, and even for pinpointing the presence of pollutants. In particular, the current global situation has highlighted the importance of rapid and low-cost viral detection devices with the ability to help in managing public health threats. Biological systems have evolved over billions of years to reliably perform these tasks. I thus propose to use them as an inspiration to develop an innovative platform for sensing. By borrowing tools from physics, chemistry, and bioengineering, I will create artificial cells, bio-inspired systems constructed from elementary molecular constituents, with the ability to identify and respond to the presence of viruses. For this purpose, I will engineer responsive architectures with synthetic DNA molecules, dubbed DNA receptors, which can detect environmental "messages" and trigger a response in the synthetic cells. With such a strategy, I will develop a technology capable of identifying the presence of viruses and initiate responses to neutralise them and inhibit viral infection. Therefore, it is likely to find application in the clinical realm for smart diagnosis and therapeutics, as synthetic compartments with immune-cell functionalities.