A collaborative study on synthetic cell membrane remodeling has received the 2026 Publication Award of the University of Stuttgart’s Faculty 4. The paper, “Morphology Remodeling and Membrane Channel Formation in Synthetic Cells via Reconfigurable DNA Nanorafts” (Nature Materials, 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-02075-9), was authored by Sisi Fan, Shuo Wang, Lonjiang Ding, Thomas Speck, Hao Yan, Stephan Nussberger, and Laura Na Liu.
Presented at the University’s Day of Research on 1 July 2026, the award recognizes outstanding research from across the university’s ten faculties. The work involved scientists from the 2nd Institute of Physics , the Department of Biophysics at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems, and the Institute of Theoretical Physics IV .
The research tackles a fundamental question in cell biology: Can a fluid cell membrane be reshaped like a solid material? Using DNA origami nanotechnology, the team engineered DNA-based structures that attach to synthetic cell membranes and reorganize into larger assemblies, creating folds, dents, and pores. Stephan Nussberger compared the concept to crumpling a chocolate wrapper, an easy transformation for solids but extremely challenging for flexible biological membranes.
The newly formed membrane channels enable molecular transport across synthetic cells, opening new possibilities for synthetic biology and biomedical applications.
