Data and code availability
All data are available in the main text or the supplemental information.
The building blocks and design strategies of life can be used to create materials with advanced functionalities that exceed those of synthetic materials. Despite progress, it is still a mystery how the assembly and self-organization of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins ultimately give rise to functional matter. Our approach is to learn about complexity and emergence in the biological design space by building it. By selecting collections of interacting dipeptides that can exchange to form longer peptides by recombination and exchange, we can track them individually and collectively. The approach provided insights about how chemical systems create patterns of self-organization. We envisage that the insights will translate to design concepts for sensors, catalysts, and energy conversion that are not restricted to the designs or conditions used in biological evolution, enabling the repurposing “chemistry-of-life” building blocks and processes for green materials and technology.
All data are available in the main text or the supplemental information.
Lead contact