Cell free translation in engineered picoliter volume containers

Engineers seek to use biological design principles to manipulate information and import new functionality to synthetic devices. Such devices inspired by natural systems could, in turn, play a crucial role in allowing biologists to explore the effects of physical transport and extreme conditions of temperature and pH on reaction systems. For example, engineered reaction containers can be physically and chemically defined to control the flux of molecules of different sizes and charge. The design and testing of such a container is described here. It has a volume of 19 pL with defined slits of 200 nm. The device successfully contained DNA and protein molecules and is evaluated for carrying out cell-free protein synthesis. The effect of DNA concentration and slit size on protein yield is discussed.