When ABC-transporters and synthetic cells meet
What is life? A question that has been asked by many and will continue to be asked by many. We know that a plant, an animal or a cell is alive. But what makes them alive? And where is the boundary between alive and inanimate? How does a cell or an organism work?
In this thesis, we are working on the creation of a synthetic cell, i.e. a cell built in the laboratory. If this succeeds in a number of years, the result may be able to answer some of the pressing questions in biology and chemistry. However, what is equally important is the path towards this result. On this road, there is a lot to learn about all the building blocks of the cell, how these systems work together and what can go wrong. We also investigated an important transport protein that controls the volume of living cells and our synthetic cell. In the coming years, research will continue into other important proteins and methods will be optimised with the aim of building the next generation synthetic cell in the laboratory.
See also: Scientists construct energy production unit for a synthetic cell