Morphogenesis in Synthetic Chemical Cells

J Phys Chem Lett. 2022 Jan 13;13(1):296-301. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03573. Epub 2022 Jan 6.

Abstract

We present an efficient model for describing morphogenesis and the emergence of spatiotemporal structures in synthetic chemical cells. This work is motivated by an experimental setup used for testing Turing's theory of morphogenesis. The model developed is based on the general theory of chemically active droplets, which combines the classical theory of phase separation with reaction-diffusion systems. Through the 2D calculations, we find the six spatiotemporal structures predicted by Turing in 1952 and experimentally observed, in a 1D array of droplets. Moreover, under Turing instability, with a determined chemical wavelength, the system undergoes morphogenesis. This theoretical approach provides a useful tool for understanding the physical differentiation through the direct calculation of the osmotic pressure in each cell as the chemical reaction occurs.

MeSH terms

  • Diffusion
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Oils / chemistry*
  • Particle Size

Substances

  • Oils