Chemical kinetics in coacervate droplets - Karina Nakashima

Karina Nakashima - University of Cambridge
Thu Oct 17, 10h30 CET

Coacervate droplets are liquid aggregates formed spontaneously through liquid-liquid phase separation, first studied by Bungenberg de Jong. These supramolecular structures provided a model to Oparin and Haldane’s hypothesis that, at the origin of life, molecules came together in microspheres suspended in the primeval ocean, facilitating further reactions - a form of physical autocatalysis. I will discuss the distinct features of chemical reactions in the presence of coacervate droplets – both in terms of reaction kinetics and in terms of droplet dynamics.

References:
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[8] Widespread occurrence of the droplet state of proteins in the human proteome (2020), PNAS.
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