Beyond their central role in storing and transmitting genetic information, nucleic acids are renowned for their high-specificity, high-affinity hybridization. In the past several decades, scientists have become increasingly interested in emulating this unique property of nucleic acids using synthetic mimics. Many creative strategies for the synthesis of xenonucleic acids (XNAs) have been developed, with the field ultimately striving for high-efficiency, scalable routes to achieving sequence-controlled XNA synthesis. Emerging strategies in both biology (e.g., directed evolution) and chemistry (e.g., dynamic covalent reactions) are leading to new breakthroughs in XNA synthesis that will make applications of nucleic acids, such as gene therapy, agricultural disease management, and electronics, more accessible.

除了在存储和传输遗传信息中的核心作用外，核酸还以其高特异性，高亲和力杂交而闻名。在过去的几十年中，科学家对使用合成模拟物来模拟核酸的这种独特性质的兴趣日益浓厚。已经开发出许多合成异种核酸（XNA）的创新策略，该领域最终致力于寻求高效，可扩展的途径来实现序列控制的XNA合成。生物学（例如定向进化）和化学（例如动态共价反应）方面的新兴策略正在导致XNA合成方面的新突破，这将使核酸的应用（例如基因治疗，农业疾病管理和电子学）更加容易获得。