Lipids, or fats, are essential to life. They form the membranes around cells, protecting them from the outside. In nature, there is an enormous diversity of lipids, with each organism having its own unique combination. But what are the minimum lipid requirements for a cell to survive? A research team at the B CUBE – Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TUD Dresden University of Technology showed that cells can function with just two lipids. They created a cell with a minimal, adaptable membrane, offering a unique platform to study how lipid complexity evolved and how it can be engineered for synthetic life. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.