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Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Preparing Protein Producing Synthetic Cells using Cell Free Bacterial Extracts, Liposomes and Emulsion Transfer
Published on: April 27, 2020
On biochemical constructors and synthetic cells
1Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Is it possible to build life? More specifically, is it possible to create a living synthetic cell from inanimate building blocks? This question precipitated into one of the most significant grand challenges in biochemistry and synthetic biology, with several large research consortia forming around this endeavour in Europe (European Synthetic Cell Initiative), the USA (Build-a-Cell Initiative) and Japan (Japanese Society for Cell Synthesis Research). The mature field of biochemistry, the advent of synthetic biology in the early 2000s, and the burgeoning field of cell-free synthetic biology made it feasible to tackle this grand challenge.
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