Multiphase DNA Nanostar Liquids and their Morphologies

Multiphase liquid droplets in the cell allow for spatial compartmentalization of biomolecules which support different chemical processes in each region. Inspired by the core-shell structures of various membrane-less organelles, we seek to better understand the thermodynamic limits to the number of phases which can simultaneously exist outside the confines of a cell, and the complex morphological structures they can create. Using a model DNA liquid system, we construct multiple immiscible liquids by exploiting the sequence-specific nature of DNA hybridization. We discuss how tuning surface tension can allow different mesoscale droplet structures to be realized.