Fellows Seminar - The shape of early life: primitive cells, primitive compartments

By Claudia Bonfio, 2022 Fellow (University of Cambridge, UK)

How did chemistry give rise to the first cells? Our lab investigates this question by exploring how primitive compartments, both membrane-bound and membraneless, could have emerged under prebiotic conditions and supported early biochemical function.

We focus on the spontaneous diversification of lipids in the absence of enzymes, showing how prebiotic chemistries can generate complex membrane compositions with dynamic physical properties. These membranes can exhibit key behaviours such as fusion, division, and selective permeability, and may have played a critical role in early RNA replication and molecular organisation.

In parallel, we study peptide/oligonucleotide coacervates as alternative compartmentalisation strategies. These phase-separated droplets can stabilise and activate nucleic acids, offering a complementary model for primitive biochemical environments.

Together, these studies suggest that early cellular life may have emerged through a combination of interacting, enzyme-free compartments with distinct chemical origins. By integrating prebiotic chemistry, membrane biophysics, and systems approaches, we aim to reconstruct pathways from disordered molecular mixtures to functionally organised protocells.

• Read more about Claudia Bonfio and her USIAS project: Multiple cycles of chemically-driven RNA ligation within synthetic protocells.