Who discovered microdroplets?
Coacervate
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These structures were first investigated by the Dutch chemist H.G. Bungenberg de Jong, in 1932. A wide variety of solutions can give rise to them; for example, coacervates form spontaneously when a disordered polypeptide, such as gelatin, reacts with another biologically derived polyelectrolyte, such as gum arabic. They are interesting not only in that they provide a locally segregated environment, but also in that their boundaries allow the selective absorption of simple organic molecules from the surrounding medium. For example, a mix of carbohydrate solution with a protein solution, will favor the spontaneous formation of amoeba-like coacervates which change shape, merge, divide, form "vacuoles", release "vacuole contents", and show other lifelike properties.[7] In Oparin's view this amounts to an elementary form of metabolism. British scientist Bernal commented that they are "the nearest we can come to cells without introducing any biological – or, at any rate, any living biological – substance." However, the lack of any mechanism by which coacervates can reproduce leaves them far short of being living systems.[8]