In the pursuit of a cell-fie: Part 2

2014 has been one of the craziest years for science. We even landed on comet, for God's sake! Needless to say, this year has been pretty kind to the biological sciences as well, with some key innovations being made in the pursuit of an artificial cell. So sit back, relax, and let's go over some key innovations that have been made this year! You've got to move it move it

Researchers this year from Technische Universität München published a pretty cool paper in Science where they constructed artificial vesicles that could move on their own. Pretty amazing! To achieve this, they coated the inner surface of the vesicles with proteins called microtubules, which are the proteins that allow your cells to move (they also provide structure in what is known as the cytoskeleton. They also added motor proteins called kinesins that move microtubules, pushing the little cells forward. Of course, the energy molecule ATP was also added as fuel and BOOM! We have movement!

Figure 1: A high resolution photo of the artificial cell! Via TUM

And here's a cool video of the cells moving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc3Ss30z1Os

Part 3 is just around the corner! See you all in a few days!