The general arc of our research interests and perspectives includes the development and implementation of concepts for hierarchical, bio-inspired self-organization consisting of artificial building blocks within and outside the thermodynamic domain and chemical reaction networks to establish emergent relationships between structures and functions, with a overarching goal of designing and synthesizing soft materials with life-like functions.
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DNA Protonuclei as Programmable Nuclear Mimics Reveal Environmental Context on Protein Phase Separation by Fritzen J., Samanta A. , Kuhr N. , Sternburg E. , Dormann D. , Walther A. BioRxiv NA 0-8 (2026)
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DNA-Empowered Protocells as Minimalistic Life Forms by Samanta A., Pallejero L. B., Masukawa M. , Walther A. Nature Reviews Chemistry 8 454-470 (2024)
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Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells by Chen W., Song S. , Samanta A. , Sethi . , Drees C. , Kappl M. , Butt H. , Walther A. Nature Chemical Engineering 2 627-639 (2025)
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Ballistic diffusion fronts in biomolecular condensates by Chen W., Duzs B. , Argudo P. G., Bauer S. V., Liu W. , Samanta A. , Parekh S. H., Bonn M. , Walther A. Nature Nanotechnology 20 1062-1070 (2025)
Principal Investigator
- Directed Evolution of Enzyme in the Crowded Confinement of DNA Synthetic Cells DBT, NEW DELHI
- Investigation of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Single-Stranded DNA: From Basic Understandings to Coacervation and Switchable Hierarchical Structuration for Intracellular Delivery. SRIC, IIT KHARAGPUR
- Thiol-Driven Reaction Networks for Hierarchical, Time-Programmable Self-Assembly and Adaptive Biomaterials with Dynamic Viscoelasticity Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
Ph. D. Students
Abhradip Mallik
Area of Research: Liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecules and synthetic cell
Arun Biswas
Area of Research: Synthetic Biology for Targeted Delivery
Nikhil Dhiman
Area of Research: Dynamic Artificial Membrane for Synthetic Cellular Systems
Sk Asif Rahaman
Area of Research: Emerging Chemistry in Crowded Compartments
