Synthetic life in 2D: self-organization in Flat Land
Dr. İrep Gözen - Bionanotechnology and Membrane Systems, University of Oslo
Host: Daniel Chiu

Conventionally, synthetic cell studies focus on isolated, freely suspended lipid compartments. This approach misses the full potential of the 2D fluidic lipid material. My team recently discovered astonishing biosurfactant assemblies developing on flat solid interfaces. The assemblies are non-trivial and adopt morphologies ranging from compartments interconnected with nanotubes to microbial colony-like structures. In my talk, I will explain how we exploit the tiny energy gain arising from contact with solid interfaces to drive the architecture, communication and transport properties of artificial cell populations in a ‘flat world’. The talk will highlight the implications of the new findings for our understanding of possible origin of life processes as well as our approach to synthetic cell engineering, and argue that materials properties-driven autonomous processes on solid interfaces might have had a greater role in the development of life than currently considered.

İrep Gözen is the head of the Bionanotechnology and Membrane Systems laboratory at the University of Oslo, Norway. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry in 2013 from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and received postdoctoral training at Harvard University. Her group is working on a variety of research subjects involving biomembranes, including biosensing, artificial cells and protocells at the origin of life.
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