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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Preparing Protein Producing Synthetic Cells using Cell Free Bacterial Extracts, Liposomes and Emulsion Transfer
Published on: April 27, 2020
Cell-free compartmentalized protein synthesis inside double emulsion templated liposomes with in vitro synthesized
Filippo Caschera1, Jin Woo Lee2, Kenneth K Y Ho2
1Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA. m-jewett@northwestern.edu.
Abstract:
A cell-free expression platform for making bacterial ribosomes encapsulated within giant liposomes was capable of synthesizing sfGFP. The liposomes were prepared using a double emulsion template, and compartmentalized in vitro protein synthesis was analysed using spinning disk confocal microscopy. Two different liposome phospholipid formulations were investigated to characterize their effects on the compartmentalized reaction kinetics. This study was performed as a necessary step towards the synthesis of minimal cells.
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