Synthetic (artificially produced) cells can imitate certain functions of biological cells. These synthetic cells could open up new medical possibilities in the future. In laboratories, such cells can already help in chemical processes on a miniature scale as "mini-reactors." Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now developed a method to control the course of these chemical processes with the help of light. Their work is published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.