Programmable containment is an essential property both of the ECCell life cycle and its ICT applications.
Throughout this
proposal two different routes to achieve programmable containment will be
followed using scpDNAs. The first one relies on the formation of porous, reversibly
cross-linked polymer networks (hydrogels) that programmably limit mobility, down
to zero by entrapment or binding for
larger (macro)molecules. Amphiphilic DNA block copolymers (DBCs) or
branched scpDNA will be employed. The
second one is based on vesicular containers built up from DBCs that, in
contrast to the hydrogels form a closed membrane. The synthesis of
scpDNAs capable of this collective phase modulation will be linked with
replication (WP1) and carried out as part of the electronic chemical cell
cycle.
