Attempts to build lifelike synthetic protocells must consider extracellular influences in order to accurately reflect the behaviours and characteristics of real ecosystems. Now, this concept has been demonstrated by the synthesis of a community of protocells in which one cell type preys upon another.
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Mansy, S. Non-living predators. Nature Chem 9, 107–108 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2725
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2725