An inverse ,model approach for estimating constitutive laws from dynamic planar deformations of Bio-Filaments

Abstract

Understanding the structural deformations of DNA on long length scales is crucial for engineering DNA molecules to perform a desired biological activity. Thus DNA mechanics simulations based on considering DNA as a Kirchhoffs elastic rod, have been a widely used tool in genetic engineering. But one of the major drawbacks of such simulations is the lack of knowledge of the constitutive law and unavailability of a proper technique to estimate the constitutive law which greatly affects the simulation results. In this paper, we develop a two dimensional inverse dynamic model of DNA which can be then used with experimental data to numerically estimate the constitutive law. The method accounts for non-linearities in the constitutive law and can also be applied to other bio-filaments and micro-tubules.