Laurent Blanchoin and Manuel Théry
Cytomorpholab (CNRS/CEA/ESPCI), France
The CytoMorpho Lab, led by Laurent Blanchoin and Manuel Théry, is a biophysics research group split between CEA Grenoble and Institute Pierre-Gilles de Gennes in Paris. The lab studies how the cytoskeleton self-organizes to control cell architecture, shape, and mechanics. Combining biochemistry, cell biology, microfabrication, quantitative microscopy, and biomimetic reconstitution, we investigate the fundamental principles governing cytoskeletal dynamics and organisation. By bridging in vitro reconstitution and living cells, the lab aims to understand, and ultimately engineer, the self-organization of living matter.
”Our team works at the frontier of synthetic cell research, building minimal systems that reproduce two fundamental properties of living matter: polarity and motility. We encapsulate active cytoskeletal networks, dynamic filaments and energy-consuming molecular motors, within soft, permeable compartments, where they self-organize into regular, tunable architectures. These systems continuously renew their components, sense their environment, and adapt to it. Our long-term goal is to build the first protocell able to establish polarity, change shape, and move autonomously, and ultimately to record and process spatial information.”
For more information, visit the cytomorpholab.
| Main area(s) | Sub-area(s) |
|---|---|
| Synthetic cell division and replication | Artificial motility systems Synthetic mitotic spindle assembly Chiral symmetry breaking in protocells |
| Information processing and evolution of synthetic cells | Non-equilibrium self-assembly |
| Enabling technologies for synthetic cells | Droplet-based microfluidics |