Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Synthetic biology

Minimal cell mimicry

The self-reproduction of a giant lipid vesicle has been linked to the replication of encapsulated DNA — a promising combination for the construction of a minimalistic synthetic cell.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Schematic representation of an approach towards the synthetic construction of cell-like systems.

References

  1. Luisi, P. L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 24, 439–450 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Luisi, P. L., Ferri, F. & Stano, P. Naturwissenschaften 93, 1–13 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Szostak, J. W., Bartel, D. P. & Luisi, P. L. Nature 409, 387–390 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kita, H. et al. ChemBioChem 9, 2403–2410 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Manys, S. et al. Nature 454, 122–125 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Noireaux, V. & Libchaber, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 17669–17674 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Varela, F. J. & Maturana, H. R. BioSystems 5, 187–196 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kurihara, K. et al. Nature Chem. 3, 775–781 10.1038/nchem.1127 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Takakura, K. & Sugawara, T. Langmuir 20, 3832–3834 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Pier Luigi Luisi or Pasquale Stano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Luisi, P., Stano, P. Minimal cell mimicry. Nature Chem 3, 755–756 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1156

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1156

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing