Research report 2019 - Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

The puzzle of life: Building a synthetic cell

Authors
Göpfrich, Kerstin
Departments
Max Planck Research Group "Biophysical Engineering"
Summary
The emergence of life on earth proves that living matter can emerge from inanimate building blocks. But is it possible to replicate this process in the lab? Can individual molecules be assembled into a synthetic cell? With DNA origami, the nanoscale art of folding DNA, we design cellular components. We subsequently assemble these and other molecular building blocks inside cell-like compartments. Piece by piece, a synthetic cell could become a reality, which in the future could also take on important tasks inside the living organism.

For the full text, see the German version.

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