Droplets: unconventional protocell model with life-like dynamics and room to grow.
Droplets: unconventional protocell model with life-like dynamics and room to grow.
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DOI：
10.3390/life4041038
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发表时间：
2014-12-17
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Hanczyc MM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hanczyc MM
在过去的几十年里，一些模拟活细胞某些基本特征的原始细胞模型已经被开发出来。这些原始细胞往往是活细胞的高度简化，具有突出的双层膜边界，被封装的代谢和/或被封装的生物衍生聚合物作为信息编码的潜在来源。在这项传统工作的同时，一种基于液滴的新型原始细胞模型也正在开发中。这样的油包水和油包水滴系统可以具有化学和生物化学转化和生物分子生产，自我运动，自我分裂，个性，群体动力学，也许是智能系统和进化的基础。考虑到液滴作为活细胞的模拟物可能具有的多种功能，这个系统有可能成为第一个真正的人工生命的化身，这是一种与我们所熟悉的生物生命类型相对应的分离。本文将综合近年来以液滴为原型细胞模型的研究进展。
Over the past few decades, several protocell models have been developed that mimic certain essential characteristics of living cells. These protocells tend to be highly reductionist simplifications of living cells with prominent bilayer membrane boundaries, encapsulated metabolisms and/or encapsulated biologically-derived polymers as potential sources of information coding. In parallel with this conventional work, a novel protocell model based on droplets is also being developed. Such water-in-oil and oil-in-water droplet systems can possess chemical and biochemical transformations and biomolecule production, self-movement, self-division, individuality, group dynamics, and perhaps the fundamentals of intelligent systems and evolution. Given the diverse functionality possible with droplets as mimics of living cells, this system has the potential to be the first true embodiment of artificial life that is an orthologous departure from the one familiar type of biological life. This paper will synthesize the recent activity to develop droplets as protocell models.