DNA Chromopods: Engineering Chromosome-Inspired Nanoarchitectures as Protocell Blueprints

Chromosomes are essential structures responsible for storing and transmitting genetic information across all domains of cellular life. Understanding how chromosome precursors might have formed and persisted under prebiotic conditions is pivotal for uncovering the mechanisms of genetic material degradation and for exploring new avenues to improve genome stability. In this study, we designed synthetic, chromosome-like inorganic–organic hybrid protocells, termed “DNA chromopods”; under simulated prebiotic environmental conditions. Using size-exclusion chromatography as a proxy for porous mineral catalysts in early Earth scenarios, we condensed short, synthetic nano-engineered single-stranded DNA (23–60 nucleotides) with sodium phosphate salts in dilute phosphate-buffered saline solution. This process yields permeable hybrid nanobeads, which act as scaffolds for the formation of chromosome-like structures. Inspired by the histone-DNA folding model, these DNA chromopods exhibit high emulsion stability, a uniform size distribution, and the capacity for controlled recombination under thermal stimulation. Together, these properties highlight their potential to evolve toward more complex, bioanalogous architectures.