Figure 1: We utilize an operational definition of minimal
life and our protocell design principle is based on
cooperation between a genetic, a metabolic, and a container structure. Our protocellular container is composed of fatty acid
molecules, which are amphiphilic (having a polar
water-soluble head group attached to a non-polar water-insoluble chain), and
thus self-assemble in water. Also the gene molecules are amphiphilic (or even hydrophobic) and they are composed of modified peptide nucleic acid
(PNA). The metabolic molecules, the light sensitizer, can either be free or
linked to the gene templates (as shown here). |
