Exploring Giant Unilamellar Vesicle Production for Artificial Cells – Current Challenges and Future Directions

Creating an artificial cell from the bottom up is a long-standing challenge and, while significant progress has been made, the full realization of this goal remains elusive. Arguably, one of the biggest hurdles that researchers are facing now is the assembly of different modules of cell function inside a single container. Giant unilamellar...

Bridging the gap: combined optical tweezers with free standing lipid membrane

This thesis presents a reliable technology to assemble free standing lipid membranes using microfabricated devices. A microfluidic cartridge consisting of parallel channels connected with a rectangular aperture was designed and characterized to assemble artificial membranes. This methodology resulted on a system capable of assembling lipid...