Our first collaborative publication

We are very happy no announce the first collaborative paper of our MSCA DN, "Life-like processes in synthetic protocells under external fields"! 

Synthetic cells are not only model compartments. They are also a playground for nonequilibrium physics.

What interests us is that life-like behavior does not come from structure alone, but from driven dynamics: transport, reconfiguration, motility, interactions, memory, and collective effects emerging far from equilibrium.
In this perspective, we discuss how external fields can be used to probe and program synthetic protocells, and why the next step is not only to build new systems, but also to quantify the right observables.
There is still a lot to measure, compare, and understand.
Our view is that progress will come from merging the best of synthetic cells and nonequilibrium statistical physics: using minimal, controllable compartments to identify physical principles, and then using those principles to gradually recreate life-like processes.

This was a collaborative work between the CRPP Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal & Université de Bordeaux and the Universidad de Granada. Our PIs Laura Alvarez and Laura Rodriguez-Arco and out DCs José Fojo and Pablo Moreno Reolid, with the contribution of Vivien Willems.

To know more, you can find the publication at: https://www.cell.com/newton/fulltext/S2950-6360(26)00046-0?rss=yes