Polyelectrolytes condensation: what creates membraneless compartments in our cells?
Condensation of weakly-charged polyelectrolytes, such as RNAs and many proteins, has been shown to be responsible for the formation of membraneless subcellular compartments in living cells and has been associated with diverse diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The condensation process is crucial to biological function and malfunction, and therefore, it is important to elucidate the driving forces underlying the condensation. The aim of the summer research project is to understand the physical driving forces of salt-induced condensation by developing a simulation for the system based on a lattice model. The students will aim to understand the physics of polyelectrolyte condensation and build and code a simulation to model the system.
Essay prompt (please address the following in 1-2 paragraphs):
- What interests you in the project? Include a question or two about this research article.
- What experience do you have with chemistry, physics, computer science, or scientific writing?
- What do you hope to get out of this research experience? What are your career goals?
This is an important and intriguing question that is still under much debate. This is also an opportunity to work at the interface between CS, math, physics, and chemistry. You will learn to develop codes to analyze complex systems, and figure out ways to discover the scientific order in the messy liquid environment (each molecule is doing its own dance!).