Out-of-equilibrium compartments: Thinking inside the box

Biological cells sustain an out-of-equilibrium state by harnessing energy flows across compartment boundaries. In this issue of Chem, Penocchio et al. quantify how out-of-equilibrium chemical reaction networks respond to compartmentalization—providing a framework on which to build and understand aspects of nonequilibrium self-assembly, molecular machinery, and other endergonic processes.