Petra Schwille
Max Planck Institute, Germany
”I am a biophysicist with training in single molecule optical microscopy and spectroscopy. During my PhD and early independent researcher phase, I developed and applied methods for the ultrasensitive detection of molecular dynamics and interactions in biological systems. Being increasingly frustrated about the low reproducibility of quantitative measurements on the molecular level in physiological settings, I have largely moved from technology development towards defining, by bottom-up design, the smallest (i.e. lowest-complexity) system that can actually be called alive.
”Today, my laboratory investigates the fundamental principles of cellular organization by reconstituting key biological processes with well-defined molecular components and analysing these systems with cutting-edge biophysical techniques. Combining advanced microscopy, microsystems technology, and bottom-up synthetic biology with a focus on protein design, production, and reconstitution, we develop minimal model systems to study membrane organization, cytoskeletal dynamics, and the emergence of more complex cell-like functions. In the past years, we have been particularly interested in developing minimal modules for cell division.”
For more information, visit Petra Schwille’s lab website.
| Main area(s) | Sub-area(s) |
|---|---|
| Metabolism and energy for synthetic cells | Membrane phase separation |
| Synthetic cell division and replication | Minimal contractile cytoskeletons and division rings Condensate-based minimal cell division Minimal chromosome segregation Artificial motility systems DNA partitioning in artificial cells Lipid bilayer fission mechanisms |
| Information processing and evolution of synthetic cells | Artificial nucleus Chromosome segregation model |
| Enabling technologies for synthetic cells | (ML-aided) Protein Design for synthetic cells DNA origami-based modules for synthetic cells Cell-free protein expression Droplet-based microfluidics 3D microprinting of biological structures Phospholipid-based Synthetic Cells |