Abstract
Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary branch of science which aims to mimic complex biological systems by creating similar forms. Constructing an artificial system requires optimization at the gene and protein levels to allow the formation of entire biological pathways. Advances in cell-free synthetic biology have helped in discovering new genes, proteins, and pathways bypassing the complexity of the complex pathway interactions in living cells. Furthermore, this method is cost- and time-effective with access to the cellular protein factory without the membrane boundaries. The freedom of design, full automation, and mimicking of in vivo systems reveal advantages of synthetic biology that can improve the molecular understanding of processes, relevant for life science applications. In parallel, in vitro approaches have enhanced our understanding of the living system. This review highlights the recent evolution of cell-free gene design, proteins, and cells integrated with microfluidic platforms as a promising technology, which has allowed for the transformation of the concept of bioprocesses. Although several challenges remain, the manipulation of biological synthetic machinery in microfluidic devices as suitable ‘homes’ for in vitro protein synthesis has been proposed as a pioneering approach for the development of new platforms, relevant in biomedical and diagnostic contexts towards even the sensing and monitoring of environmental issues.
Highlights
Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing field that covers several disciplines including molecular biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, and nanotechnology
This work presents microfluidic technology and its applications in synthetic biology as a promising platform to simplify cellular structure and functions, which can be used for engineering biological parts at protein and cell levels
The cell-free protein synthesis system offers many advantages compared with the cell-based systems, including high protein yield; generation of soluble and functional proteins without inhibition of regulatory pathways; the possibility of using mRNA or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragments directly without any need for cloning; and the possibility of expressing multiple templates, which permits the
Summary
Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing field that covers several disciplines including molecular biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, and nanotechnology. Genes 2018, 9, 144 system that is able to perform the desired function when transplanted into a seminatural context This construction process is complex as it needs genetic reprogramming, DNA and protein synthesis, and functional screening [5]. Integration of multidisciplinary techniques, such as de novo DNA synthesis, cell-free protein expression, and microfluidics, could contribute significantly to the field of synthetic biology by saving time and cost as well as improving the functionality of a developed system by making it robust and effective. This work presents microfluidic technology and its applications in synthetic biology as a promising platform to simplify cellular structure and functions, which can be used for engineering biological parts at protein and cell levels
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