Cells are cleverer than we often realise. A new study from researchers at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry shows that tiny droplets inside nearly all cells, called biomolecular condensates, can maintain different levels of acidity or alkalinity from their surroundings. These droplets do not have membranes and do not need energy to do this, challenging the long-standing idea that their chemical environment is the same as the rest of the cell.
