We think this could open exciting future opportunities in tissue engineering, morphogenesis, dynamic cell programming, and multi-layered mechanical-biochemical control. Very happy that this work was supported by our ERC funding. #ERCfunded @erc.europa.eu

Because the whole system is built from nucleic acids, it is naturally compatible with DNA strand displacement and reaction networks. That allowed us to go beyond static sensing and introduce reversible switching and temporal programming of mechanosensitivity.

A key idea is that aptamers let us access noncanonical surface receptors for mechanotransduction. Using this, we could probe distinct mechanical inputs, including actomyosin-driven contractility and membrane ruffling during macropinocytosis

Tao Xu developed an all-DNA mechanosensing platform in which aptamers act as synthetic receptor ligands embedded into force-responsive DNA mechanoprobes. This enables cell-type-selective force sensing rather than relying only on broadly expressed classical receptors such as integrins.

Synthetic aptamer mechanoreceptors enable cell-specific force sensing and temporal control via DNA circuits - Nature Communications Engineering synthetic mechanosensing systems with both cell-specificity and programmability remains challenging, especially for classical mechanoreceptors. Here, the authors develop an all-DNA mechano...

Excited to share “Synthetic Aptamer Mechanoreceptors Enable Cell-Specific Force Sensing and Temporal Control via DNA Circuits.” in NatComm. This is our most significant excursion into mechanobiology #mechanobiology #DNAnanoscience #aptamers www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🔮 Why this matters:
Reconfigurable soft microfluidics point toward adaptive chemical matter, embodied computation, and future closed-loop chemical learning systems. #physicalintelligence #softmatter #adaptivematerials

🧱 Key message:
We add a new computational dimension - hardware-level programmability - to chemical computing.
Function is reassigned by physical reconfiguration, not molecular redesign.

🧠 These patterns become computation:
The material system itself acts as a physical reservoir, enabling analogue & reservoir computing.
Nonlinear functions are recovered with a simple linear readout: The complexity lives in the material. #reservoircomputing

🌊 Then things get fun:
With a pH oscillator, reconfigurable geometry gives rise to standing chemical waves. Emergent spatiotemporal patterns from the interplay of reaction dynamics × flow × structure. #complexity #oscillator #noneqsys

🧬 We show this first with switchable DNA logic:
AND ↔ OR gates realized using the same DNA network — logic reassigned purely by reconfiguring microfluidic flow paths. #DNAnanoscience

🔁 This enables something powerful:
The same molecular system can perform different computations simply by changing physical structure.
No new DNA strands. No new chemistry. Just new geometry. #chemicalcomputation #systemschemistry

💡 The core idea:
Instead of encoding computation only in chemistry, we make the reaction vessel itself programmable.
Soft hydrogel structures can be written & erased in situ, reshaping flow, mixing, and reaction environments on demand. #3Dprinting #microfluidics

🧪🧠 New preprint out!
Soft Hardware, Flowing Software
We introduce reconfigurable microfluidics as an active control layer for chemical computation. Geometry, and flow, and not molecular redesign, programs function.
Great work by Piet!
chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

I will soon be in Singapore (22-31.Jan) for the Dean's Distinguished Speaker Series #NTU #Singapore hosted by Ali Miserez. Very excited to go and thank you to Ali!
@Singaporean researchers, if you want to meet me, I am happy to do so. PLease send me a direct message.

Schrödinger was in our canteen and the decision is yet to be made. 🤯😳at least 50 % chance to get it right.

Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...

Multidisciplinary training, over time, produces the highest impact people

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Fun Xmas day with a team of amazing people. Life is good 😊

@mpici.bsky.social

Taking my @sfb1551.bsky.social socks for another spin to visit Silvia Vignolini at the MPI in golm. A long trip…

Let’s get the show on the road. Best way to start the day. #roma

I made it to Cambridge 😀. Looking forward to meeting some ECRs and speaking later today at the Engineering Biology Forum.

Duck 🦆 - chestnuts 🌰 - carrot 🥕- blueberrry 🫐 #chemistswhocook

Saturday 🧑‍🍳. Cod loin, cauliflower coconut purée, cilantro/lime oil and some barberries.. #chemistswhocook #silkysmoothpuree

a black and white photo of a train on the tracks ALT: a black and white photo of a train on the tracks

Looking very much forward to speaking at the Institute for Molecules and Materials in Nijmegen tmrw. Deutsche Bahn is playing all tricks to prevent me from reaching it.

ATP‐Powered Signaling Between Artificial and Living Cells We introduce an ATP-powered artificial cell platform capable of selectively and transiently releasing DNA signals to facilitate communication between artificial and living cells. By engineering these...

Congratulations to Soumya and Charu for making the first ATP-fueled homeostatic cytokine delivery system for communication between artificial and living cells. Now in Angewandte Chemie @angewandtechemie.bsky.social #syntheticcell #noneqsys #DNAnanoscience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells - Nature Chemical Engineering Engineering structurally and functionally complex synthetic cells remains a key challenge. Here DNA condensate synthetic cells combine phase separation and DNA nanostructures to reveal how switchable ...

Fresh in @natchemeng.nature.com Growing artificial cytoskeleton in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA Artificial Cells. Brilliant work bey Weixiang! #Syntheticcell #systemschemistry
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Join us at our EngBio Forum on 10 Nov to hear from Andreas Walther @waltherlab.bsky.social
on creating programmable materials and DNA-based synthetic cells that can process information, adapt,and communicate.
Don't miss it! Sign up 🫱 buytickets.at/engineeringb...

#SyntheticCells #LifeLikeSystems

Computational investigation of the sequence context of arginine/glycine-rich motifs in the human proteome - BMC Genomics Arginine-glycine (RG)-rich motifs are among the most prevalent RNA-binding elements within intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins and play crucial roles in RNA metabolism, gene regulation, and the formation of membraneless organelles via liquid phase separation (LLPS). Despite their biological relevance and implication in neurological disorders and cancer, the sequence features and context dependencies that define functional RG motifs remain poorly characterized owing to their disordered nature and sequence variability. In this study, we present a computational framework to dissect the sequence and structural context of RG motifs across the human proteome. By contrasting a functionally defined positive dataset—enriched for RNA-binding and phase-separating proteins—with a negative dataset of RG motif proteins lacking these annotations, we identified distinct compositional and contextual signatures. RG motifs in the functionally defined positive dataset show increased enrichment of phenylalanine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, and asparagine, both within and around the motif, as well as nonrandom spatial relationships with structured RNA-binding domains. Notably, phenylalanine and tyrosine exhibit divergent positional and functional profiles, suggesting distinct mechanistic roles. Our analysis highlights the potential of sequence-based approaches to uncover functional determinants in disordered protein regions and further advances our understanding of the properties of RG motifs, offering a transferable framework for the study of other low-complexity motifs.

🖥️ New Publication Alert
Congratulations to Eric Schumbera, @dormannlab.bsky.social, @waltherlab.bsky.social & @miguelandrade66.bsky.social on their recent publication in BMC Genomics
#RGmotifs #IDRs #LLPS #HumanProteome #ComputationalMotifAnalysis
bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Headshots of speakers Andreas Walther and Claudia Contini next to text that reads "Engineering Biology Forum. Synthetic Cells. Mon 10 Nov. 5pm to 8pm. St Catharine's College, Cambridge".

We're extremely excited to welcome Prof Andreas Walther @waltherlab.bsky.social and Dr Claudia Contini @continiclau.bsky.social for our next Forum

We'll be exploring #SyntheticCells #LifeLikeSystems and #EngineeringBiology from the bottom-up

Don't miss it, register now! 👉 bit.ly/engbio-forum-nov25

Global perspectives on the critical role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in science Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamental to advancing scientific innovation and addressing complex societal challenges. This Voices piece gathers insights from eight researchers around t...

Really happy to see our most recent Voices article, on the importance of DEI in science, published this week. Includes perspectives from 8 researchers from the USA, UK, China, and Bangladesh www.cell.com/cell-reports...