The Keating Group loves Biology but loves Chemistry even more.  Our goal is to utilize Chemistry principles and phenomena to better understand how Biology assembles and organizes.  The most important aspect to life is organization.  Biology delegates its different functions to different organs and compartments.  Organization is just as important at the subcellular level, where the different functions are delegated by the different organelles.  Most organelles are coated with a lipid membrane that serves as a semi-permeable boundary.  In recent years, researchers have observed subcellular compartments that lack membranes.  These so-called “membraneless organelles” are liquid droplets that subsist alongside the other organelles.  The Keating Group uses liquid-phase systems known as all-aqueous emulsions to model and study types of membraneless organelles. Most are familiar with the liquid-phase separation that occurs between oil and water, such as a separated salad dressing.  As the name implies, all-aqueous emulsions are entirely water-based, where the separation is driven by trace polymers in the solution such as peptides or sugars.  Our lab has even created simple artificial cells from these systems, with multiple, distinct liquid phase compartments.  Now, the Keating Group is leveraging its expertise in this project.  Our multi-phase all-aqueous emulsions will serve as the metaphorical framework for the various reactions performed by the ProteoCell.