Synthetic cells communicate with organic cells

Microscopic image of the synthetic cells. Pink is protein, cyan is membrane staining. Photo: Marleen van Stevendaal - Marleen van Stevendaal has researched how communication between synthetic cells and living tissue can be controlled using chemokines. Many things are already possible when it comes to mimicking organic cells. For example, Jan van Hest's group has developed a synthetic cell platform in which all kinds of cell aspects can be mimicked in order to better understand them. With her background in cell biology and biochemistry, Marleen van Stevendaal wanted to investigate whether it was possible for these synthetic cells to communicate with organic cells. In her thesis, she describes how she succeeded in this.