Chemistry meets biology: controlling artificial cell membranes through catalysis
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Dec-2025 05:11 ET (23-Dec-2025 10:11 GMT/UTC)
Using catalytic chemistry, researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have achieved dynamic control of artificial membranes, enabling life-like membrane behavior. By employing an artificial metalloenzyme that performs a ring-closing metathesis reaction, the team induced the disappearance of phase-separated domains as well as membrane division in artificial membranes, imitating the dynamic behavior of natural biological membranes. This transformative research marks a milestone in synthetic cell technologies, paving the way for innovative therapeutic breakthroughs.
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