Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
DNA ligation is a fundamental operation for DNA-based information technologies because it enables the covalent assembly of sequence-defined strands for data writing, molecular record construction, circuit progression, and signal integration. However, standard protein ligases are not ideal for many DNA storage and computation settings, where low cost, high stability, easy parallelization, and compatibility with long-term storage are especially desirable. To address this need, we recently developed improved DNA-ligating DNAzymes by combining catalyst evolution with substrate-engineering. Using an in vitro selection strategy based on a pre-structured library derived from the E47 ligase DNAzyme, we identified new ligases with more than twofold higher activity than E47, representing the fastest DNA-ligating DNAzymes reported to date. In parallel, we evaluated alternative activation chemistries and found that phosphobenzimidazole-activated DNA is substantially more stable than the conventional phosphoimidazole substrate, remaining intact for at least 24 h at room temperature. These advances are significant for DNA storage because they support more practical strand-joining workflows for modular data- block assembly, barcode addition, information rewriting, and potentially large-scale, protein-free data construction in arrayed or massively parallel formats. They are also highly relevant to DNA computation, where ligation can serve as a programmable and durable information-processing step, enabling covalent logic outputs, signal accumulation, multi-input integration, reaction-history recording, and autonomous circuit advancement. Our ongoing work builds on this foundation to create even faster, more robust, and more sequence-flexible DNAzymes for joining DNA strands with high efficiency and operational simplicity. Overall, this study establishes DNA-ligating DNAzymes as increasingly practical molecular tools for storage and computing with DNA and suggests that continued improvement of catalytic efficiency and substrate stability will help unlock scalable, low- cost, and shelf-stable DNA information systems.
Presented by
Connor Nurmi, McMaster University
This is a presentation from the 2026 Storage and Computing with DNA Conference.
· Learn More about the SNIA DNA Data Storage Alliance: snia.org/groups/snia-dna-technology-affiliate
· SNIA Educational Library: snia.org/library
· X: twitter.com/SNIA
· LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/snia
DNA ligation is a fundamental operation for DNA-based information technologies because it enables the covalent assembly of sequence-defined strands for data writing, molecular record construction, circuit progression, and signal integration. However, standard protein ligases are not ideal for many DNA storage and computation settings, where low cost, high stability, easy parallelization, and compatibility with long-term storage are especially desirable. To address this need, we recently developed improved DNA-ligating DNAzymes by combining catalyst evolution with substrate-engineering. Using an in vitro selection strategy based on a pre-structured library derived from the E47 ligase DNAzyme, we identified new ligases with more than twofold higher activity than E47, representing the fastest DNA-ligating DNAzymes reported to date. In parallel, we evaluated alternative activation chemistries and found that phosphobenzimidazole-activated DNA is substantially more stable than the conventional phosphoimidazole substrate, remaining intact for at least 24 h at room temperature. These advances are significant for DNA storage because they support more practical strand-joining workflows for modular data- block assembly, barcode addition, information rewriting, and potentially large-scale, protein-free data construction in arrayed or massively parallel formats. They are also highly relevant to DNA computation, where ligation can serve as a programmable and durable information-processing step, enabling covalent logic outputs, signal accumulation, multi-input integration, reaction-history recording, and autonomous circuit advancement. Our ongoing work builds on this foundation to create even faster, more robust, and more sequence-flexible DNAzymes for joining DNA strands with high efficiency and operational simplicity. Overall, this study establishes DNA-ligating DNAzymes as increasingly practical molecular tools for storage and computing with DNA and suggests that continued improvement of catalytic efficiency and substrate stability will help unlock scalable, low- cost, and shelf-stable DNA information systems.
Presented by
Connor Nurmi, McMaster University
This is a presentation from the 2026 Storage and Computing with DNA Conference.
· Learn More about the SNIA DNA Data Storage Alliance: snia.org/groups/snia-dna-technology-affiliate
· SNIA Educational Library: snia.org/library
· X: twitter.com/SNIA
· LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/snia
