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.
Biopolymers are covalently bonded linear structures produced by living organisms, including polynucleotides, like RNA and DNA; polypeptides, from which proteins are formed; and polysaccharides, comprising carbohydrates. Biopolymers in vivo refers to these polymers when they are studied in the cells of whole living organisms.
Atomistic modeling of dense solutions of γ-crystallins links liquid-liquid phase equilibrium to amino-acid sequence and predicts mutations for altering the critical temperature.
Orsi et al. identify an elegant solution to DNA packing in cricket sperm nuclei, whereby relatively simple biophysical changes in chromatin properties result in a liquid crystal-like twisted spool organization that favors ultracompaction.
Microtubules respond to mechanical compression by deforming, becoming more stable, which results in CLASP2 recruitment to the distorted shaft—a process crucial for cell migration through confined spaces.
A study presents evidence to support a model in which liquid–liquid phase separation of components of the transport machinery mediates formation of transient protein transport channels on peroxisomes.
Magnetic tweezer measurements have revealed the forces associated with a star-shaped structure responsible for moving the sperm nucleus to the centre of the egg cell following fertilization.
