The matter/life nexus in biological cells

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the matter/life nexus in biological cells, emphasizing the role of physics, spatial organization, and computational modeling in unraveling what distinguishes living matter from inanimate matter.

Contribution

It synthesizes recent experimental and computational developments that deepen our understanding of how physical principles underpin cellular life and the transition from nonliving to living matter.

Findings

Whole-cell modeling offers new insights into cellular complexity.

Spatial organization and compartmentalization are key to cellular function.

Advances in physics and computation are bridging gaps in understanding the matter/life transition.

Abstract

The search for what differentiates inanimate matter from living things began in antiquity as a search for a "fundamental life force" embedded deep within living things - a special material unit owned only by life - later transforming to more circumspect search for unique gains in function that transform nonliving matter to that which can reproduce, adapt, and survive. Aristotelian thinking about the matter/life distinction and Vitalistic philosophy's "vital force" persisted well into the Scientific Revolution, only to be debunked by Pasteur and Brown in the 19th century. Acceptance of the atomic reality and understanding of the uniqueness of life's heredity, evolution, and reproduction led to formation of the Central Dogma. With startling speed, technological development then gave rise to structural biology, systems biology, and synthetic biology - and a search to replicate and synthesize that "gain in function" that transforms matter to life. Yet one still cannot build a living cell de novo from its atomic and molecular constituents, and "that which I cannot create, I do not understand". In the last two decades, new recognition of old ideas - spatial organization and compartmentalization - have renewed focus on Brownian and flow physics. In this Review, we explore how experimental and computational advances in the last decade have embraced the deep coupling between physics and cellular biochemistry to shed light on the matter/life nexus. Whole-cell modeling and synthesis are offering promising new insights that may shed light on this nexus in the cell's watery, crowded milieu.