For the first time, scientists have engineered the complex biological process of translation into a designer organelle in a living mammalian cell. Research by the Lemke group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) – in collaboration with JGU Mainz and IMB Mainz—used this technique to create a membraneless organelle that can build proteins from natural and synthetic amino acids carrying new functionality. Their results—published in Science on 29 March—allow scientist to study, tailor, and control cellular function in more detail.