Two-Way Chemical Communication between Artificial and Natural Cells.

Artificial cells capable of both sensing and sending chemical messages to bacteria have yet to be built. Here we show that artificial cells that are able to sense and synthesize quorum signaling molecules can chemically communicate with , , , and . Activity was assessed by fluorescence, luminescence, RT-qPCR, and RNA-seq.

Communicating artificial cells.

Intercellular chemical communication is commonly exploited for the engineering of living cells but has been largely ignored by efforts to build artificial cells. Since communication is a fundamental feature of life, the construction of artificial cells capable of chemical communication will likely lead to a deeper understanding of biology and allow for the development of life-like technologies. Herein we highlight recent progress towards the construction of artificial systems that are capable of chemically communicating with natural living cells.

Integrating artificial with natural cells to translate chemical messages that direct E. coli behaviour.

Previous efforts to control cellular behaviour have largely relied upon various forms of genetic engineering. Once the genetic content of a living cell is modified, the behaviour of that cell typically changes as well. However, other methods of cellular control are possible.

Fluorescent proteins and in vitro genetic organization for cell-free synthetic biology.

To facilitate the construction of cell-free genetic devices, we evaluated the ability of 17 different fluorescent proteins to give easily detectable fluorescence signals in real-time from in vitro transcription-translation reactions with a minimal system consisting of T7 RNA polymerase and E. coli translation machinery, i.e.

Cellular imitations.

Synthetic biologists typically construct new pathways within existing cells. While useful, this approach in many ways ignores the undefined but necessary components of life. A growing number of laboratories have begun to try to remove some of the mysteries of cellular life by building life-like systems from non-living component parts.