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MOLECULAR SELF-ASSEMBLY. "The formation of molecular crystals, colloids, lipid bilayers, phase-separated polymers, and self-assembled monolayers are all examples of molecular self-assembly. Although self-assembly originated in the study of molecules, it is a strategy that is, in principle, applicable at all size scales." https://lnkd.in/dyqXZ8k View in LinkedIn

DNA BRICKS. "In 2012, researchers demonstrated that synthetic DNA strands called “DNA bricks” could self-assemble into complicated three-dimensional equilibrium structures, including letters of the English alphabet and shapes with well-defined cavities and tunnels." https://lnkd.in/dE73DV6 View in LinkedIn

EDITING ERRORS. "Instead of trying to avoid defects or work around them, it makes more sense to accept defects as part of the process and then correct them during and after the assembly process. This procedure is analogous to how nature deals with defects, and can be applied to the assembly of nanomaterials using biomolecules or biomimetic compounds." https://lnkd.in/dR5Ajf2 View in LinkedIn

ACTIVATORS AND REPRESSORS. "Biological regulation systems convert input signals into specified outputs. The same input–output relationship can generally be carried out by several different mechanisms." http://www.pnas.org/content/103/11/3999.full View in LinkedIn

ERROR MINIMIZATION IN BIOLOGY. "Savageau demand rule: Genes that are needed often in the natural environment tend to be regulated by activators, and rarely needed genes tend to be regulated by repressors; in both cases, sites are bound for most of the time, and errors are minimized. The fitness advantage of error minimization appears to be readily selectable." http://www.pnas.org/content/103/11/3999.full View in LinkedIn

CRYSTALIZATION ERRORS include etch plates, where the crystallization process falls short of perfection during self-construction. See this brilliant book on natural crystal formation. https://lnkd.in/dm7JCCz View in LinkedIn

FOOTNOTE."The central dogma says that there is faithful transcription of DNA into RNA. This challenges that idea on a much larger scale than was known". The work suggests that RNA editing is providing a previously unappreciated source of human genetic diversity that could affect, for instance, how vulnerable different people are to disease. The ability to edit RNA to produce 'new' protein-coding sequences could be widespread in human cells." https://lnkd.in/dvUcXWZ View in LinkedIn

FIXING ERRORS POST-PRODUCTION. "After DNA has been completely replicated, the daughter strand is often not a perfect copy of the parent strand it came from. Mutations during replication and damage after replication make it necessary for there to be a repair system to fix any errors in newly synthesized DNA." https://lnkd.in/dFiK8bb View in LinkedIn

PROOF-READING IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. "The low overall rate of mutation during DNA replication (1 base pair change in one billion base pairs per replication cycle) does not reflect the true number of errors that take place during the replication process. The number is kept so low by a proof-reading system that checks newly synthesized DNA for errors and corrects them when they are found." https://lnkd.in/dFiK8bb View in LinkedIn

THANK YOU ALL for the birthday wishes. Spent, in part, in the Sahara desert in a Berber Nomad tent after arrival on camels. Impressive people. View in LinkedIn