‘Self-inflating’ synthetic cells can capture, store and release cargo

Artificial cells have been created that have no biological components and rely entirely on chemistry to capture, store and release microscopic payloads using light. The cell-mimicking microcapsules could be useful for drug delivery, removing contaminants or collecting biological samples in living organisms, say the researchers.

Living cells use active transport – which requires energy as well as specialised proteins and enzymes – to pump ions and molecules across their membranes against concentration gradients. But it has been challenging to mimic this in non-living systems without incorporating some biochemical machinery.