Abstract
Over the past few decades, several protocell models have been developed that mimic certain essential characteristics of living cells. These protocells tend to be highly reductionist simplifications of living cells with prominent bilayer membrane boundaries, encapsulated metabolisms and/or encapsulated biologically-derived polymers as potential sources of information coding. In parallel with this conventional work, a novel protocell model based on droplets is also being developed. Such water-in-oil and oil-in-water droplet systems can possess chemical and biochemical transformations and biomolecule production, self-movement, self-division, individuality, group dynamics, and perhaps the fundamentals of intelligent systems and evolution. Given the diverse functionality possible with droplets as mimics of living cells, this system has the potential to be the first true embodiment of artificial life that is an orthologous departure from the one familiar type of biological life. This paper will synthesize the recent activity to develop droplets as protocell models.
Highlights
Exploiting the fluid dynamical properties of droplets using different chemistries, this general droplet platform can be custom purposed as described in this review towards creating models for artificial life, targeted applications and exploration of origin of life scenarios not done with other supramolecular platforms
We focus on chemical droplets as protocell models
In order to further exploit the non-equilibrium dynamics of droplets, we have developed a robotic workstation that can perform droplet experiments but monitors the experiments and can modify the course of an experiment in real time
Summary
The droplet consists of a liquid compartment that is highly insoluble in another liquid. Small convective flows develop and can grow [2,3,4] Under these conditions flow structures form, primarily due to Marangoni-type instabilities [5,6]. These flow fields (both within the droplet and in the liquid proximal to the droplet) can affect the shape, the state of the droplet and its dynamic properties. Oil-in-water and water-in-oil droplet systems, such as presented here, are intended as artificial life models that are able to possess some of the properties of living biological systems. Exploiting the fluid dynamical properties of droplets using different chemistries, this general droplet platform can be custom purposed as described in this review towards creating models for artificial life, targeted applications and exploration of origin of life scenarios not done with other supramolecular platforms
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