Biomolecular Condensates: Phase Separation and Engineering Potential

Biomolecular condensates (BCs) are droplets that spontaneously form within a fluid to minimize the free energy of the overall mixture. Similar to the way that oil and water separate over time after being mixed together, BCs form through a process called Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS). Learning about how these droplets form and how we could engineer their behavior has become a hot topic in materials science because BCs seem to be a significant mechanic by which biological cells operate. In this talk, I propose how these systems may serve as a kind of information processing mechanism in cells. Then I present an algorithm to create synthetic phase diagrams and discuss how the algorithm is derived from the physics embedded in these chemical systems. Finally, I show design considerations and my preliminary results towards creating a neural network to assist in engineering the behavior of these systems.