LGRT 1681
The growth, form, and division of membrane-bound vesicles and organelles is a unifying motif across biology. Membranes form the boundaries of the nucleus and cell, organelles such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. Importantly, these membranes are out-of-equilibrium systems as their lipid constituents are in a state of continual turnover. Here, we develop a model in which vesicle growth is driven purely by membrane growth, permeability, and elasticity. We use the immersed boundary method to explore the fluid-structure interaction of growing vesicles. By comparing our simulations to experiments on fatty acid vesicles, we show how the model captures essential behaviors required of prebiotic vesicles.