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1. Build-a-Cell: Engineering a Synthetic Cell Community

   https://doi.org/10.3390/life11111176  

   Frischmon, Caroline; Sorenson, Carlise; Winikoff, Michael; Adamala, Katarzyna P (November 2021, Life)

   Build-a-Cell is a global network of researchers that aims to develop synthetic living cells within the next decade. These cells will revolutionize the biotechnology industry by providing scientists and engineers with a more complete understanding of biology. Researchers can already replicate many cellular functions individually, but combining them into a single cell remains a significant challenge. This integration step will require the type of large-scale collaboration made possible by Build-a-Cell’s open, collective structure. Beyond the lab, Build-a-Cell addresses policy issues and biosecurity concerns associated with synthetic cells. The following review discusses Build-a-Cell’s history, function, and goals. 

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2. A single-cell resolved cell-cell communication model explains lineage commitment in hematopoiesis

   https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.199779  

   Rommelfanger, Megan K.; MacLean, Adam L. (December 2021, Development)

   ABSTRACT Cells do not make fate decisions independently. Arguably, every cell-fate decision occurs in response to environmental signals. In many cases, cell-cell communication alters the dynamics of the internal gene regulatory network of a cell to initiate cell-fate transitions, yet models rarely take this into account. Here, we have developed a multiscale perspective to study the granulocyte-monocyte versus megakaryocyte-erythrocyte fate decisions. This transition is dictated by the GATA1-PU.1 network: a classical example of a bistable cell-fate system. We show that, for a wide range of cell communication topologies, even subtle changes in signaling can have pronounced effects on cell-fate decisions. We go on to show how cell-cell coupling through signaling can spontaneously break the symmetry of a homogenous cell population. Noise, both intrinsic and extrinsic, shapes the decision landscape profoundly, and affects the transcriptional dynamics underlying this important hematopoietic cell-fate decision-making system. This article has an associated ‘The people behind the papers’ interview. 

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3. How Does a Plant Cell Build a New Cell Wall When Dividing?

   https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2021.570769  

   Chang, Mingqin; Drakakaki, Georgia (June 2021, Frontiers for Young Minds)

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   If you live in an apartment or a house, you will notice that your home has different rooms separated by walls. A plant is just like your home, except there are many small rooms, called cells. Plant cells, like rooms, are also separated by cell walls. Cell walls are unique and are not found in animal cells. In a building, if you want to turn one large room into two small rooms, you build a new wall to divide it. This is similar to how a plant cell divides into two cells during cell division. To build a wall in a building, you need to employ construction workers, design the building plan, buy building materials, and finally assembly the wall. How does the plant cell take care of these different jobs? This article explains how the cell wall is built in a plant cell during cell division. 

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4. Genetic requirements for cell division in a genomically minimal cell

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.008  

   Pelletier, James F.; Sun, Lijie; Wise, Kim S.; Assad-Garcia, Nacyra; Karas, Bogumil J.; Deerinck, Thomas J.; Ellisman, Mark H.; Mershin, Andreas; Gershenfeld, Neil; Chuang, Ray-Yuan; et al (April 2021, Cell)

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5. Cell-to-Cell Information at a Feedback-Induced Bifurcation Point

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.048103  

   Erez, Amir; Byrd, Tommy A.; Vennettilli, Michael; Mugler, Andrew (July 2020, Physical Review Letters)

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