Rebuilding Cytokinesis One Molecule at a Time

Cells are the fundamental units of life. They make up all living things, from bacteria that live in the soil, to archea that give thermal springs their bright colors, to trees and humans. All of these cells share some common functions: they build themselves from basic building blocks, following the instructions of their genetic blueprint, and...

Synthetic Cell Aspirations: A Toolbox for Building a Membrane Container from the Bottom Up

Everything that we consider alive, be it plants, dogs, bacteria or humans, is composed of the same microscopic building blocks: cells. While cells between and even within these organisms can look and behave very differently, they all share the same key functionalities: they can grow, they can divide to proliferate, they can eat and metabolise to...