Engineering Synthetic Cells through Module Integration and Evolution

Abstract

Life, the most complex and admirable machine that one could think of has evolved over billions of years to display a beautiful variety of mechanisms that keep cells adapting, self-maintaining, reproducing, and evolving. If we think about it, what is this magic? What are the mechanisms behind life’s origins and wonderful coordination? Attracted by these intricates, different scientific disciplines have for long studied all life’s scales to grasp the fundamental principles of life. In particular, the synthetic biology field has set the goal of discerning life until the point that a minimal synthetic cell can be fully recreated in a controlled laboratory set-up. Synthetic cells, modular enough to be crafted by scientists, could not only reveal fundamental insights of how life works, but can also help unlock great biotechnological applications that lie beyond the reach of our current technologies and understanding of life. In this thesis, we delve into how in vitro evolution, module integration, and high throughput characterization are valuable steps to consider for accelerating the bottom-up assembly of artificial cells.