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Cited by 464

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 11 of the 11 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Growth and division of active droplets provides a model for protocells

Open access
Zwicker, David, Seyboldt, Rabea, Weber, Christoph A., Hyman, Anthony A., Jülicher, Frank·2017·Nature Physics
DOI 10.1038/nphys3984
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Abstract

It has been proposed that during the early steps in the origin of life, small droplets could have formed via the segregation of molecules from complex mixtures by phase separation. These droplets could have provided chemical reaction centres. However, whether these droplets could divide and propagate is unclear. Here we examine the behaviour of droplets in systems that are maintained away from thermodynamic equilibrium by an external supply of energy. In these systems, droplets grow by the addition of droplet material generated by chemical reactions. Surprisingly, we find that chemically driven droplet growth can lead to shape instabilities that trigger the division of droplets into two smaller daughters. Therefore, chemically active droplets can exhibit cycles of growth and division that resemble the proliferation of living cells. Dividing active droplets could serve as a model for prebiotic protocells, where chemical reactions in the droplet play the role of a prebiotic metabolism. Droplets are an appealing picture for protocells in origin-of-life studies, but it’s unclear how they would have propagated by growth and division. Theory suggests that chemically active droplets spontaneously split into equal daughter droplets.

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Cites

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Metadata

Authors
Zwicker, D., Seyboldt, R., Weber, C. A., Hyman, A. A., & Jülicher, F.
Venue
Nature Physics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-12-12
Volume
13
Issue
4
Pages
408-413
ISSN
  • 1745-2473 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-2481
DOI
10.1038/nphys3984
OpenAlex
W2292279843
Cited by
464
References
11
FWCI
16.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Growth and division of active droplets provides a model for protocells. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1038/nphys3984
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Zwicker, D., Seyboldt, R., Weber, C. A., Hyman, A. A., & Jülicher, F. (2017). Growth and division of active droplets provides a model for protocells. Nature Physics. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3984

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