protobiont
Sign in to saveA protocell (or protobiont) is a self-organized, membrane-bound or membraneless compartment that concentrates biomolecules, proposed as a rudimentary precursor to cells during the origin of life. A central question in evolution is how simple protocells first arose and how their progeny could diversify, thus enabling the accumulation of novel biological emergences over time (i.e. biological evolution). Although a functional protocell has not yet been achieved in a laboratory setting, the goal to understand the process appears well within reach.
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Overview
- Selectivity for compartmentalization
- Vesicles, micelles and membranes
- Membrane transport
- Biomolecular condensates as protocells
- Suitable prebiotic environments
- Hydrothermal systems
- Montmorillonite bubbles
- Membraneless droplets
- Coacervates
- Sexual reproduction
- Artificial models
- Langmuir–Blodgett deposition
- Jeewanu protocells
- Bio-like structures
- Analogous Research: Fuel Cells
- Ethics, controversy, and research considerations
- See also
- References
A protocell (or protobiont) is a self-organized, membrane-bound or membraneless compartment that concentrates biomolecules, proposed as a rudimentary precursor to cells during the origin of life. A central question in evolution is how simple protocells first arose and how their progeny could diversify, thus enabling the accumulation of novel biological emergences over time (i.e. biological evolution). Although a functional protocell has not yet been achieved in a laboratory setting, the goal to understand the process appears well within reach.
A protocell is a pre-cell in abiogenesis, and was a contained system consisting of simple biologically relevant molecules like ribozymes, and encapsulated in a simple membrane structure – isolating the entity from the environment and other individuals – thought to consist of simple fatty acids, mineral structures, or rock-pore structures.