Translation of DNA signals into polymer assembly instructions.

We developed a DNA nanomechanical device that enables the positional synthesis of products whose sequences are determined by the state of the device. This machine emulates the translational capabilities of the ribosome. The device has been prototyped to make specific DNA sequences. The state of the device is established by the addition of DNA set strands. There is no transcriptional relationship between the set strands and the product strands. The device has potential applications that include designer polymer synthesis, encryption of information, and use as a variable-input device for DNA-based computation.