Binary encryption comprehensive experiment based on agarose gel electrophoresis

This experiment is based on a 4-bit deoxyribonucleic acid （DNA） nanoswitch， in which specific DNA single strands trigger a “linear-to-circular” conformational transition. By leveraging the migration differences between the two conformations in gel electrophoresis， digital binary encoding is achieved. Different combinations of conformational switches can represent distinct information. Inspired by the “protection-deprotection” strategy in organic chemistry， an ribonucleic acid （RNA） protection strand is introduced to prevent the formation of the circular structure， thereby establishing an information encryption system. The system utilizes ribonuclease A （RNase A） for specific enzymatic cleavage to remove the protection， restoring information readout and establishing an RNA-regulated encryption system. By integrating DNA nanotechnology， binary encoding， and chemical protection strategies， agarose gel electrophoresis is applied throughout the entire experimental process， enabling full visualization from molecular construction to information read‑write. This approach not only helps students master gel electrophoresis techniques and deepen their understanding of electrophoretic separation mechanisms and structure‑activity relationships at the molecular level， but also exposes them to cutting‑edge fields such as molecular information encoding and DNA nanotechnology， effectively stimulating innovative thinking and interdisciplinary problem‑solving skills.