News - Synthetic Cell

Meet the Community - Claudia Contini

16 / 03 / 2023

Curiosity is the driving force of Claudia Contini, who uses her skills to reinvent biology. At Queen Mary University of London, she is currently setting up her own research group on synthetic cells capable of dynamic behaviors. Originally from Sardinia, Italy, she moved to the UK after her Master’s ...

Scientists unveil the complex dance of pattern-forming proteins when exposed to flow

09 / 03 / 2023

The MinE and MinD proteins found in E. coli bacteria form the most studied pattern-forming systems in biology and this system is a serious contender to direct the cell division mechanism in synthetic cells. To uncover its secrets, German and Dutch scientists subjected the Min system to a liquid ...

SYNBEE project kicks off

06 / 03 / 2023

We are very pleased to announce that we, together with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (TU Delft), are participants in the SYNBEE project. Coordinated by eureKARE, this two-year Horizon Europe project officially started on February 1. This is a Coordination and support action (CSA) that aims to ...

Meet Project Leader Sindhu Naik

06 / 03 / 2023

We are pleased to welcome Sindhu Naik, who joins our team as project leader for SYNBEE. SynCellEU, together with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, is participating in this two-year Horizon Europe project, coordinated by eureKARE. Sindhu manages the first work package of the SYNBEE project, which includes ...

Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the partners of the European Synthetic Cell Initiative

02 / 03 / 2023

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the Max Planck Society (MPG) in Germany, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands are very pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further support the ...

International Day of Women and Girls in Science – in conversation with Zexi Xu

13 / 02 / 2023

Zexi Xu is a postdoc in the Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics research group at Utrecht University. She is currently working on the interaction between cold atmospheric plasma and biological membranes. She obtained her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2022. What motivated you to do research? Since I was a ...

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

13 / 02 / 2023

February 11 was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. At the European Synthetic Cell Initiative, we think it is important to celebrate this day and add to the collective voice on equality in science. On this occasion, we are highlighting female researchers in our community to ...

International Day of Women and Girls in Science – in conversation with Claudia Contini

13 / 02 / 2023

Originally from Sardinia, Italy, Claudia Contini does not come from an academic family and is in fact the only person in her family with a PhD. After a PhD in Physical Chemistry at University College London (UCL), she worked for five years at Imperial College London and is now ...

International Day of Women and Girls in Science – in conversation with Jacqueline De Lora

13 / 02 / 2023

Jacqueline De Lora is a postdoc in the lab of Joachim Spatz at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany. Born and raised in New Mexico, USA, she completed her PhD in biomedical Sciences at the University of New Mexico, with a focus on biomedical engineering. One ...

International Day of Women and Girls in Science – in conversation with Marcelina Cardoso Dos Santos

13 / 02 / 2023

Marcelina Cardoso Dos Santos is the only one in her family working in science and with a PhD. Biophysicist at the CEA (The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) at Paris-Saclay University, Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell since 2018, she is interested in biomimetic systems and ...