Molecular dynamics simulation of an entire cell

The ultimate microscope, directed at a cell, would reveal the dynamics of all the cell's components with atomic resolution. In contrast to their real-world counterparts, computational microscopes are currently on the brink of meeting this challenge. In this perspective, we show how an integrative approach can be employed to model an entire cell, the minimal cell, JCVI-syn3A, at full complexity. This step opens the way to interrogate the cell's spatio-temporal evolution with molecular dynamics simulations, an approach that can be extended to other cell types in the near future.

Automated summary

Computational microscopes are on the verge of achieving the ultimate goal of revealing the dynamics of a cell's components with atomic resolution. In this perspective, the integrative approach used to model the minimal cell, JCVI-syn3A, showcases the potential of molecular dynamics simulations to study the spatio-temporal evolution of cells, extending its applicability to other cell types in the near future.