Happy to see this out - a perspective on how high throughput droplet technologies may be scaled up for chemistry, biology and beyond.💧🧪⚗️pubs.rsc.org/en/content/arti…

Molecular intelligence: enzymes that compute Living matter already processes information — it senses, reacts, and adapts — but doing so with the precision of a computer has long seemed out of reach. What if molecules themselves could perform computation, without any electronics? Souvik Ghosh and coauthors demonstrate exactly that: a recursive enzymatic network built from just seven immobilized enzymes that can perform reservoir computing. Instead of transistors, the system uses competition between chemical reactions, feedback loops, and non-linear kinetics to classify inputs and respond to changing conditions — all inside a microreactor. The result is remarkable. With a simple linear readout, the chemical network performs non-linear classification tasks, senses temperature with ~1.3 °C precision, and even detects light-pulse periodicity by coupling to a photoacid dye. The computation happens entirely within wet chemistry, where sensing, processing, and decision-making merge into one process. Compared to earlier chemical reservoirs, this one operates under mild, bio-compatible conditions — opening the door to soft, autonomous materials that think and act chemically. Paper: nature.com/articles/s41557-0…

Eshel Ben-Jacob saw bacterial colonies as canvases—and let them paint.

I recently learned that the novelist, Cormac McCarthy, spent several years at the Santa Fe Institute helping scientists write papers. His advice was condensed into a brief Nature column. The first three points, and some of the final points, are really good. (h/t @eryney_ok)

Our new manuscript reports using microwave resonator to count droplets network formed in 3D-printed microfluidics. Available on Lab on a chip now. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/arti…

I’m thrilled to be able to announce that we were granted a NWO Summit grant entitled ‘Evolving Life from Nonlife’ (EVOLF) with 40 million euro for a 10-year project aimed to cross the gap between non-life and life by assembling a living synthetic cell from lifeless biomolecules!

Excited to see one of my PhD projects published in JACS Au today! Co-authored by my amazing PhD supervisors @YuvalElani, Marina Kuimova and @NickBrooks22 within @impchemistry! Read bellow: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jac…

We at @LabonaChip are very pleased to present our second-ever annual Reviews issue! 📚🎉 📒 Lab on a Chip 2024 Reviews Issue - FREE TO READ 🔗pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/jou…

Artificial cell themed Basler Leckerly. Love it ! Thanks @NCCR_MSE

Pleased to have contributed to this @NatRevMCB paper: Present and future of synthetic cell development. nature.com/articles/s41580-0… with @DoraTang5 @MarileenD @KateAdamala @TakinoueLab & Petra Schwille. @fabriCELL_UK @buildacell @MaxSynBio @BaSyCresearch @ImperialChemEng

@ETH_en Public Tour: At today’s fully booked lab tour some 40 visitors learned about microchips and their great use for medical and diagnostic applications or for biological analyses. Big thanks to the @BioanalyticsLab! > u.ethz.ch/H2ZFj

Delighted to receive the best ECR talk for the "World Premiere" of the DIB-BOT, an open-source hardware approach for high throughput droplet interface bilayer deposition! A quick thread to introduce my robot to the rest of the world... 🤖

Big THANK-YOU to all department members for the fantastic retreat! The lightening talks, workshops, rally and party were so much fun!!! 🎉🥂🎈

Our new perspectives article, out now in Lab on a Chip, explores how 3D printed artificial tissues could replace the use of ex-vivo animal tissues when screening the safety of cosmetics. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/arti… @ImperialDyson @Imperial_IMSE @fabriCELL_UK @imperialcollege

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Strutt for winning the best talk award at 32nd Swiss Soft Days! Rob gave a talk on artificial cells. The event was hosted at the Biozentrum in Basel and brought together Swiss researchers in the areas of soft matter, biophysics and nano materials🥇

Inspiring moments at Euroanalysis XXI in Geneva, August 27th-31st, 2023! The theme of the meeting was 'Analytical Probing of Complex Systems.' Here Prof. Petra Dittrich after an inspiring keynote talk and post doc Robert Strutt after an insightful poster presentation 🌟

Check out this incredible paper, developing a soft, microscale droplet-based power source able to activate neurons! Just published in @Nature from @bayley_lab @LinnaZhou1 @OxfordChemistry nature.com/articles/s41586-0…

Fantastic work - novel functionality unlocked

🚀Our latest @PNASNews paper, showcasing hydrogel artificial cells is out! ✅ Modular synthetic organelles ✅ Engineered biomimetic behaviours: motility, sensing, stimuli-response & cargo release ✅ Powered by membrane proteins, enzymes & nanoparticles tinyurl.com/SynCel

What is the meaning of life? Scientists are increasingly trying to create synthetic cells from molecular building blocks, blurring the line between living and non-living. What defines life? Why does it matter? Check out our commentary on this topic: royalsocietypublishing.org/d…