About this Research Topic
In the context of synthetic biology, cell-free systems are creating a new frontier towards understanding natural biological networks and manufacturing various products of interest. Recently, renewed scientific interest in cell-free systems has driven the rapid development of cell-free synthetic biology. These efforts have led to the establishment of efficient cell-free platforms for emerging synthetic biology and biotechnology applications, including, for example, the synthesis of “difficult-to-express” proteins, bottom-up design of genetic circuits and prototyping of metabolic pathways, designing of medical diagnostics and biosensors, and engineering of microfluidic biochip devices. The new achievements are exciting, which highlight the potential to use cell-free systems for synthetic biology purposes in years to come.
Through this Research Topic, we would like to engage researchers and readers the forefront of exciting new developments and applications within cell-free biotechnology. Thus, the aim of this Research Topic is to collect original research articles, short communications, reviews, mini-reviews, methods/protocols, and perspectives that contribute to the advancements of cell-free synthetic biology.
The following areas can be covered in the scope of this Research Topic:
(1) Development of new cell-free expression systems;
(2) Cell-free expression of “difficult-to-express” proteins;
(3) Cell-free biosynthesis of small molecule chemicals;
(4) Cell-free prototyping, automation and high through-put screening;
(5) Cell-free incorporation of non-canonical amino acids;
(6) In vitro diagnostics and biosensors;
(7) Artificial cells and in vitro metabolisms;
(8) Cell-free systems coupling with other advanced technologies (e.g., microfluidics).
Keywords: Cell-free synthetic biology, Cell-free protein synthesis, Cell-free metabolic engineering, Cell-free systems for biomanufacturing, Cell-free biotechnology and bioengineering
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.