Abstract

We are much better at taking cells apart than putting them together. Reconstitution of biological processes from component molecules has been a powerful but difficult approach to studying functional organization in biology. Recently, the convergence of biochemical and cell biological advances with new experimental and computational tools is providing the opportunity to reconstitute increasingly complex processes. We predict that this bottom-up strategy will uncover basic processes that guide cellular assembly, advancing both basic and applied sciences.

Author affiliations

1. Allen P. Liu is at the Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, MB-6, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
2. Daniel A. Fletcher is at the Biophysics Group and Bioengineering Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94702, USA and the Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

Correspondence to: Daniel A. Fletcher² Email: fletch@berkeley.edu

Published online 12 August 2009