Direct observation and characterisation of physical autocatalysis by interferometric scattering microscopy

人们对自催化化学反应进行了广泛的研究，目的是为了深入了解生命系统的基本原理。在生物学上，生物体可以被认为是不完美的自我复制者，它产生了密切相关的物种，允许选择和进化。自身催化也是许多其他生物过程的重要组成部分。该项目旨在开发新的自催化反应，在这种反应中，两个简单的化学构件结合在一起，得到更复杂的产品，然后产品聚集在一起，形成原始的细胞样结构或“原始细胞”，如胶束或囊泡。原始细胞允许起始材料更有效地混合，及时加快反应速度，并导致原始细胞的复杂行为。一种新的超灵敏显微镜将被用来实时监测原始细胞的形成和动态。这些反应将作为模型系统，我们希望它们将有助于理解复杂的类似细胞的系统如何从简单得多的化学成分中出现，并可能与理解地球上生命是如何开始的原理有关。

Autocatalytic chemical reactions have been extensively studied with the aim of providing insight into the principles underlying living systems. In biology, organisms can be thought of as imperfect self-replicators, which produce closely related species, allowing for selection and evolution. Autocatalysis is also an important part of many other biological processes. This project aims to develop new autocatalytic reactions where two simple chemical building blocks come together to give a more complex product, and then the product aggregates to give primitive cell-like structures or "protocells" such as micelles or vesicles. The protocells allow the starting materials to mix more efficiently, speeding up the reaction in time and giving rise to complex behaviour of the protocells. A new ultra sensitive microscope will be used to monitor the formation and dynamics of the protocells in real time. These reactions will serve as model systems which we hope will contribute to understanding how complex cell-like systems can emerge from much simpler chemical components and may be relevant to understanding the principles of how life started on earth.