Artificial Lipid Metabolism as a Tool for Membrane Design

The study introduces artificial lipid-metabolic systems that mimic natural membrane dynamics, enabling membranes to grow, remodel, and exchange lipids.

The authors show that simple metabolic pathways can create lipid membranes de novo from basic precursors like acetate and cysteine, suggesting how early cell membranes might have formed.

Enzymes build bilayer-forming lipids, while pore-forming peptides import fresh precursors to sustain growth and maintain proton gradients. These minimal, metabolism-driven strategies provide a foundation for building more complex synthetic cells.