Every cell needs a shell. The cell interior is separated from its surroundings by a membrane made up of fat molecules, helping to create the environment needed for the cell to survive. Development of artificial cells is similarly reliant on a chemically and mechanically stable shell. Within the framework of the MaxSynBio network, researchers from the Max Planck Society and the Universities of Heidelberg, Jena, Magdeburg and Bordeaux have used a novel technique to produce particles made of a range of different fatty acids which behave very like natural cell membranes. The scientists were also able to fill the vesicles with natural cell proteins and integrate proteins into the lipid layer. These lipid particles are an important step towards developing a model system for studying processes in natural cells. They could also one day be a component of artificial cells.