We may be closer to creating our own DNA than I thought..

The formation of effective and precise linkages in bottom-up or top-down processes is important for the development of self-assembled materials. Self-assembly through molecular recognition events is a powerful tool for producing functionalized materials. Photoresponsive molecular recognition systems can permit the creation of photoregulated self-assembled macroscopic objects. Here we demonstrate that macroscopic gel assembly can be highly regulated through photoisomerization of an azobenzene moiety that interacts differently with two host molecules. A photoregulated gel assembly system is developed using polyacrylamide-based hydrogels functionalized with azobenzene (guest) or cyclodextrin (host) moieties. Reversible adhesion and dissociation of the host gel from the guest gel may be controlled by photoirradiation. The differential affinities of ?-cyclodextrinor ?-cyclodextrinfor the trans-azobenzeneand cis-azobenzeneare employed in the construction of a photoswitchable gel assembly system.

Naturally occurring systems build functional assemblies and organs based on a bottom-up strategy through selective molecular recognition by macromolecules, such as DNAs and proteins. Selective molecular recognition among macromolecules is achieved through noncovalent bonds and involves a large number of weak bonding interactions. In recent years, much attention has focused on supramolecular science, the science of noncovalent assembly, in recognition of the importance of specific noncovalent interactions in biological systems and chemical processes. Although many supramolecular architectures have been synthesized, the self-assembly of macroscopic materials through molecular recognition poses one of the biggest challenges. Introduction of a stimulus-responsive guest molecule and its corresponding host molecule to a macroscopic material could provide a means for highly regulated macroscopic assembly through structural changes in the guest moiety triggered by a stimulus. In this way, the interactions between a host and guest can be controllably switched.

Here we describe a photoregulated macroscopic gel assembly system using polyacrylamide-based hydrogels functionalized with photoresponsive guest and host molecules. Simple agitation of the photoresponsive guest gel in the presence of the host gel leads to gel adhesion (assembly) through host?guest interactions, and the assembled gels separate into separate pure gels on irradiation with ultraviolet light. The dissociated gels reassemble on visible light irradiation. Placement of a second host gel, which binds the azobenzene (Azo) guest in an alternate conformation favoured by excitation with ultraviolet light, adjacent to the assembly of the first host?guest gels, followed by agitation in waterwith exposure to ultraviolet light, results in the pairing exchange in the gel assembly, indicating that the gel assembly is photoswitchable. A hydrogel synthesized by copolymerization of monomers bearing host and guest moieties and bis-acrylamidealso forms a homogeneous gel assembly and shows the same photoresponsive properties.

The rest of the article and studies can be read here:

Photoswitchable gel assembly based on molecular recognition

Now we just need to figure out how these molecules create information to build uniform structures. Pretty cool stuff..

 

Found an article touching on biophotons, which relates to how OP research could lead to artificial genomes:

The Puzzling Role Of Biophotons In The Brain

""The Puzzling Role Of Biophotons In The BrainVarious work suggests that neurons emit and even conduct photons. Could it be that biophotons help to synchronise the brain? In recent years, a growing body of evidence shows that photons play an important role in the basic functioning of cells. Most of this evidence comes from turning the lights off and counting the number of photons that cells produce. It turns out, much to many people's surprise, that many cells, perhaps even most, emit light as they work.

In fact, it looks very much as if many cells use light to communicate. There's certainly evidence that bacteria, plants and even kidney cells communicate in this way. Various groups have even shown that rats brains are literally alight thanks to the photons produced by neurons as they work.

And that raises an interesting question: what role does light play in the work of neurons? The fact that neurons emit light does not mean that they can receive it or process it.

But interesting evidence is beginning to emerge that light may well play an important role in neuronal function. For example, earlier this year, one group showed that spinal neurons in rats can actually conduct light.

Today, Majid Rahnama at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in Iran and a group of pals, suggest how this might work. And they even go on to make a startling prediction about the role that photons might play in the way the brain works.

To begin with, Rahnama and co point out that neurons contain many light sensitive molecules, such as porphyrin rings, flavinic, pyridinic rings, lipid chromophores and aromatic amino acids. In particular, mitochondria, the machines inside cells which produce energy, contain several prominent chromophores.

The presence of light sensitive molecules makes it hard to imagine how they might not be not influenced by biophotons.

But photons would also be absorbed by other stuff in the cell, liquids, membranes etc, and this ought to make cells opaque. So Rhanama and co hypothesise that microtubules can act as wave guides, channeling light from one part of a cell to another.

Microtubules are the internal scaffolding inside cells, providing structural support but also creating highways along which molecular machines transport freight around the cell. They're extraordinary things. Could it be that they also work like optical fibres?

Maybe. They go on to suggest that the light channelled by microtubules can help to co-ordinate activities in different parts of the brain. It's certainly true that electrical activity in the brain is synchronised over distances that cannot be easily explained. Electrical signals travel too slowly to do this job, so something else must be at work.

And of course Rhanama and co are not the first to suggest that microtubules play a central role in the functioning of the brain. 15 years ago, Roger Penrose suggested that consciousness is essentially a phenomenon of quantum mechanics and that microtubules were the medium in which quantum mechanics takes place.

It's a big jump to assume that photons do this job. But science is built on leaps of imagination like this. What Rhanama and co need now is somebody to test this idea for them, which is not going to be easy. There's no harm in speculation but evidence is king.

What's for sure is that biophotonics is one of the fastest moving and exciting fields in science today. And in this kind of rapidly moving environment, thinking like this can sometimes trigger a revolution."

Hope that helps "shine some light on the subject".

 

Well to be fair, we still don't know where the information the genome contains came from. All we know is the information is capable of evolving over time. I'd rather not bring religion into the thread though...

As far as "what's needed", us creating an artificial genome still requires design.

 

The first one can be a lot to take in if you aren't too familiar with chemistry, but I was hoping the second link would help clear up why I think it's a pretty important discovery.

ISnuff: you hit the nail on the head! The study of biophotonics has been trying to determine what it is our cells photons do for a while now. Unfortunately they haven't got too far because it's pretty hard to determine conclusively, much like physical models. I too think it probably has a very important role of consciousness, but we'll just have to wait and see.

edit: Found some more links on the subject:

Cellular Biophotonics

Biophotonics

 

And that's just a virus' RNA! Heh. Imagine designing an entire organisms genome! Sounds like a lifetime of work.. lol.

What's also interesting to think about is if we begin to "write up" our own genomes, I wonder if they'll continue to use the same genetic language (Adenine,Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine) or if we'll mess around with creating an artificial language. They may have to stick with the way that we know works, but it's something they'll probably mess around with eventually..