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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Prof. Ned Wingreen
Princeton University
Abstract:
Biologists have recently come to appreciate that eukaryotic cells are home to a multiplicity of non-membrane bound compartments, many of which form and dissolve as needed for the cell to function. These dynamical 'condensates' enable many central cellular functions - from ribosome assembly, to RNA regulation and storage, to signaling and metabolism. While it is clear that these compartments represent a type of separated phase, what controls their formation, how specific biological components are included or excluded, and how these structures influence physiological and biochemical processes remain largely mysterious. I will discuss recent experiments on phase separated condensates both in vitro and in vivo, and will present theoretical results that highlight a novel 'magic number' effect relevant to the formation and control of two-component phase separated condensates.
