Adding AEGIS nucleotides to single-stranded oligos increases their information density. This allows clean and rapid hybridization of single-stranded DNA unobstructed by hairpins, wandering strands, and non-canonical interactions. Then, using Firebird’s “transliteration” technology, the AEGIS nucleotides are cleanly replaced by standard nucleotides giving an entirely natural gene.

An example of this assembly is shown below: S and B residues in the tails of the primers guide specific alignment of the unique sequences at the ends of the primers. The SB basepair is converted to a TA basepair during PCR amplification.

Bradley and Benner, 2014; Merritt et al., 2014