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Explore how biomolecular condensates—membrane-less compartments that concentrate specific molecules within living cells—develop emergent physical properties that mediate their biological functions in this 45-minute conference talk. Discover the robust mechanisms cells have evolved to coordinate molecular activity in space and time, focusing on condensates that participate in diverse biological processes including gene expression, signal transduction, and neurotransmission. Learn about the wide range of lifetimes, sizes, mechanochemical properties, and architectures these condensates exhibit, while examining the current challenges in understanding how their emergent physical properties relate to their biological roles. Gain insights into recent progress in characterizing molecular interactions that lead to condensation, theoretical frameworks and simulation approaches for describing biomolecular condensates, and new experimental methods for characterizing condensates and delineating their functions. Understand the physicochemical principles shaping condensates and the ongoing challenges in mapping computational and laboratory-based droplet studies to actual condensates inside living cells, as presented by Tanja Mittag from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics conference on biomolecular condensates.
