New innovations in cell-free biotechnology
Stephan Benzkofer, Northwestern University
We developed a bacterial cell-free protein synthesis system that is capable of high level expression of pure proteins containing multiple non-canonical amino acids, said Michael Jewett, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Without the worry of trying to keep a cell alive, this process opens up many possibilities, including the synthesis of new classes of enzymes, therapeutics, materials, and chemicals with diverse chemistry. A living cell may balk when asked to do something it hasn’t seen in its evolutionary biology, not so for a cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform. But Jewett and the team produced the highest yields of proteins with non-canonical amino acids ever reported for in vitro systems, suggesting that long-term commercial applications for CFPS might be realistic. The second element came courtesy of Jewett’s student, Rey Martin, the lead author of the paper.