NYU oil droplets reshape and engulf surroundings without biological machinery

New York University researchers report microscopic oil droplets in water that change shape in complex, controllable ways and engulf their surroundings, behaviors usually associated with living cells, phys.org said. The Nature Communications study frames the results as morphogenesis-like dynamics emerging from physics and chemistry without genes, proteins or active cellular machinery. According to the coverage, microscopic oil droplets change shape when exposed to a soap-like molecule and can close into a sealed capsule that traps surrounding liquid and suspended particles. The work is presented under the heading of morphogenic colloids. Phys.org quoted co-senior author Stefano Sacanna on potential materials uses: under the right conditions the droplets can restructure and engulf what is around them, forming a protective capsule or shell that could protect cargo, with shape change described as nonspecific and versatile. The findings are positioned both as a minimal physical model for cell-like reshaping and compartment formation and as a route to adaptive materials that respond to their environment or capture cargo on demand. The paper is Florent Fessler et al., Morphogenic colloids, Nature Communications, DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-75586-5. Soft-matter and materials groups gain a synthetic droplet system that mimics engulfment and compartment formation without biological parts.