Programmed assembly of protocellular materials

生命是分子化学的一种表现。我们知道，活细胞和组织是相互反应和相互作用的分子的集合。然而，我们也知道分子不是活的，化学反应也不是活的。那么，为什么细胞和组织是有生命的呢？考虑到这个重大的科学问题，近年来，合成生物学领域的研究人员正试图通过迈出自下而上发展类似合成细胞的实体的第一步，来填补生命科学和物理科学之间的空白。他们表明，原始细胞可以由一致的分子和材料构建，如磷脂、聚合物甚至无机纳米颗粒，并可以通过化学编程模拟活细胞的基本功能，如自发生长和分裂、吞噬或基因导向的蛋白质合成。虽然许多研究团队目前正专注于通过提高原始细胞的生物化学复杂性来提高生物功能和自主性的水平，但戈博博士的研究旨在开辟一个新的研究前沿，开始在空间上将原始细胞组织成在水中稳定并能够模拟活组织的原始细胞材料(或原始组织)。为了实现这一雄心勃勃的目标，戈博博士正在以一种原创和协同的方式将合成和材料化学的关键方面与合成生物学结合起来。更具体地说，他提出的工作旨在解决原细胞材料设计和合成构造中的下列令人兴奋的挑战：1)原细胞材料组装方法的开发；2)原细胞材料内部通讯路径的开发；3)原细胞材料在组织工程和合成生物学中的应用。实现具有可编程的基本内化新陈代谢形式的全功能、适应性和自主的原细胞材料将代表着一项前所未有的科学成就。此外，合成这种形式的“活性物质”将大大有助于弥合物理科学和生物科学之间的鸿沟，并具有深刻的技术、哲学和社会经济影响。

Life is an expression of molecular chemistry. We know that living cells and tissues are an assembly of molecules that are reacting and interacting with each other. However, we also know that a molecule is not alive and that a chemical reaction is not alive. So why is it that cells and tissues are alive?With this big scientific question in mind, in recent years, researchers in the field of synthetic biology are trying to fill this gap between life sciences and physical sciences by making the first steps towards the bottom-up development of synthetic cell-like entities, called protocells. They showed that protocells can be built from unanimated molecules and materials such as phospholipids, polymers or even inorganic nanoparticles, and can be chemically programmed to mimic basic functions of living cells such as spontaneous growth and division, phagocytosis, or gene-directed protein synthesis. While many research teams are currently focusing on increasing the levels of biofunctionality and autonomy by advancing the protocells biochemical complexity, Dr Gobbo's research aims to pioneer a new research frontier by starting to spatially organise protocells into protocellular materials (or prototissues) that are stable in water and are capable of emulating living tissues. To achieve this ambitious objective, Dr Gobbo is bringing together in an original and synergistic manner key aspects of synthetic and materials chemistry in combination with synthetic biology. More specifically, his proposed work aims to tackle the following exciting challenges of protocellular materials design and synthetic construction: 1) the development of methodologies for the assembly of protocellular materials; 2) the development of communication pathways within protocellular materials; and 3) the applications of protocellular materials in tissue-engineering and synthetic biology.Achieving forms of fully functional, adaptive and autonomous protocellular materials endowed with a programmable rudimentary form of internalised metabolism would represent an unprecedented scientific achievement. Furthermore, the synthesis of such a form of "active matter" will substantially help bridge the gap between physical and biological sciences, and have profound technological, philosophical, and socioeconomic implications.