Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of biomolecular condensates in cell biology, emphasizing their physical principles, biological functions, and future research challenges to foster coordinated scientific progress.

Contribution

It unifies terminology across disciplines and outlines key challenges in modeling, simulation, and measurement of condensates for the first time.

Findings

Clarified core concepts and terminology for condensates.

Identified major challenges in nonequilibrium theory and in-cell measurements.

Outlined a roadmap for future research directions.

Abstract

Biomolecular condensates govern essential cellular processes yet elude description by traditional equilibrium models. This roadmap, distilled from structured discussions at a workshop and reflecting the consensus of its participants, clarifies key concepts for researchers, funding bodies, and journals. After unifying terminology that often separates disciplines, we outline the core physics of condensate formation, review their biological roles, and identify outstanding challenges in nonequilibrium theory, multiscale simulation, and quantitative in-cell measurements. We close with a forward-looking outlook to guide coordinated efforts toward predictive, experimentally anchored understanding and control of biomolecular condensates.