The research of Aduc prize winner Charalampos (Babis) Pappas focuses on systems chemistry: his group demonstrates how aminoacyl phosphates drive peptide self-assembly, compartmentalization, and dynamic reaction cycles in water. Phosphate groups are among the most fundamental functional motifs in biology. They store and transfer chemical energy, regulate signaling pathways and encode genetic information. In his influential essay “Why Nature Chose Phosphates“, Frank Westheimer 1) argued that the widespread use of phosphates in biology reflects a remarkable balance between stability in water and controlled reactivity. This balance is exemplified...