The formation of immiscible liquid phases or coacervates is a phenomenon widely observed in biology. Marine organisms, for instance, use liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) as the precursor phase to form various fibrillar or crustaceous materials that are essential for surface adhesion. More recently, the importance of LLPS has been realized in the compartmentalization of living cells and in obtaining ordered but dynamic partitions that can be reversed according to necessity. Here, we compare the properties, features, and peculiarities of intracellular and extracellular coacervates, drawing parallels and learning from the differences. A more general view of the phenomenon may in the future inform new studies to allow a better comprehension of its laws.

不混溶的液相或凝聚层的形成是在生物学中广泛观察到的现象。例如，海洋生物使用液相-液相分离（LLPS）作为前体相来形成各种对表面粘附必不可少的原纤维或甲壳材料。最近，LLPS的重要性已经在活细胞的分隔和获得有序但可以根据需要逆转的动态分区中实现。在这里，我们比较细胞内和细胞外凝聚层的性质，特征和特性，得出相似之处并从中学习区别。对这种现象的更一般的看法可能会在将来为新的研究提供参考，以更好地理解其规律。