…A half-dozen different proteins come together to make new copies of the virus’s RNA. But something remarkable happens along the way: Together, the proteins and RNA spontaneously turn into a droplet, akin to a blob in a lava lamp.
Physicists have long known that molecules in a liquid spontaneously form droplets if the conditions are right. “This is just making salad dressing,” said Amy Gladfelter, a cell biologist at the University of North Carolina.
But only in recent years have biologists discovered that our cells regularly make droplets for their own purposes…
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