Category Archives: Open Projects

Integrating systems chemistry and evolutionary perspectives on the origin of life

The complex problem of the origin of life can be approached from different angles and scientific disciplines: while chemists may attempt to extrapolate from their understanding of self-organization processes in organochemical networks towards the first living systems, biologists may reason ‘from hindsight’, based on their knowledge of extant life and their reconstruction of the most plausible pathways that led to its emergence.

Adaptive behaviour of supramolecular structures scrutinised at the single-particle level

In the origin of life, the transition from small building blocks to complex, organised assemblies set the stage for the emergence of biological systems. These supramolecular structures bridge the gap between simple organic molecules and the complex, organised systems that characterise living systems.

STED Super-resolution microscopy to reveal early cellular mechanisms of cell division

ESCRT-III proteins form supramolecular structures that are essential for membrane remodelling processes across the tree of life. In archaea and eukaryotes, the ESCRT-III proteins assemble into polymers that cut membrane tubes together with Vps4, an AAA–ATPase.