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Monika Fuxreiter discusses recent studies indicating that generic interactions that determine the biophysical properties of condensates are important for condensate function.
Giancarlo Abis recounts his inspiration for becoming a structural biologist — the publication of the HIV-1 RT structure, which enabled a therapeutic breakthrough.
A 2017 paper showed that phase separation and formation of elastin in the extracellular matrix does not require protein secondary structures, but cross-linked disordered chains.
Gavin Kelsey discusses the first reports of genomic imprinting in mammals and how they raised the profile of epigenetics in the study of mammalian development.
Sally Lowell discusses the concept of ‘community effect’ when cells commit to a certain differentiation path, which was proposed by John Gurdon in 1988 and recently suggested to enable cancer cells to gain control.
Twenty years ago it was reported that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key developmental process, occurs in cancer; many studies have since, and still are, studying EMT heterogeneity and its functional implications.
Although the organization of cell membranes into lipid rafts has become a key concept in cell biology, how partitioning of membrane components into subdomains is achieved remains an important question.