Are there realistic alternatives to replication other than two-strand linear polymers like DNA? What came first, replication or metabolism? Must information (DNA) and function (proteins) be separated? Is the data necessarily one-dimensional? Must life have a container?
To answer these questions, we would like to draw inspiration from biology, and search for possible solutions by building our own life-like system: with elementary magnetic-based building blocks. We envision developing Magnetic DNA, a digital magnetic polymer capable of replicating itself.
