[17] Gladfelter made the discovery that the nuclei of the multinucleate fungus Ashbya gossypii, despite sharing the same cytoplasm, progress through the cell cycle independently.

[18] This has led to further work uncovering how liquid-liquid phase separation of RNAs and proteins can permit autonomy among syncytial nuclei and help to establish cell polarity.

Recently, the lab has begun examining phase separation in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with a focus on understanding mechanisms of viral packaging.

They predicted that virus ability to store information came from the use of nucleic acid sequences and RNA structure to encode different condensate-dependent functions.

Gladfelter ultimately assumed that these functions would increase biochemical complexity, and would assist in performing multiple roles within a single cell, while only utilizing a few cellular components.