Delayed supply of building blocks facilitates assembly

The ability to self-organize is a key feature of biological systems and is widely found in nature: Small building blocks that autonomously assemble give rise to macromolecules such as the cell nucleus, virus capsids, or complex cellular structures – often in compartmentalized environments which specifically facilitate or control such processes. Understanding the principles of this self-assembly also guides recent developments in synthetic biology and nanotechnology. LMU biophysicists Severin Angerpointner, Richard Swiderski, and Professor Erwin Frey have developed a new theoretical model which demonstrates that the delayed supply of building blocks can improve the effectiveness of the self-assembly of complex structures in compartmentalized systems.

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