Dynamic Scaling Analysis for Enzymatic Degradation and Network Growth of DNA Liquid Droplets

In this talk, I will introduce two novel pattern formation dynamics exhibited by phase-separated liquid droplets composed of DNA nanoparticles:
1) By enzymatically inactivating the phase-separation ability of the nanoparticles, we observed the process by which droplets gradually disappeared. Notably, the droplet-size distribution density remained unchanged, while only the total number of droplets decreased over time.
2) We also observed the formation of a novel two-dimensional wire-like network pattern, in which two types of droplets are arranged in a one-dimensional, alternating manner. We confirmed that the characteristic size of the network follows power-law growth over nearly two decades, with a universal growth exponent that is independent of droplet viscosity and inter-droplet wetting affinity.
We analyze these results within the framework of the dynamic scaling hypothesis and discuss the physical mechanisms underlying these behaviors.