Active self-disassembly enhances the yield of self-assembled structures

Abstract

We introduce a lattice model to probe the effect of active self-disassembly on equilibrium self-assembly. Surprisingly, we find conditions under which active self-disassembly enhances the yield of a target structure above that achieved by self-assembly alone when the latter is already favoured thermodynamically. We discuss biological implications of our findings.

5 pages, 4 figures