Living cells naturally maintain a variety of metabolic reactions via energy conversion mechanisms that are coupled to proton transfer across cell membranes, thereby producing energy-rich compounds. Until now, researchers have been unable to maintain continuous biochemical reactions in artificially engineered cells, mainly due to the lack of mechanisms that generate energy-rich resources, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). If these metabolic activities in artificial cells are to be sustained, reliable energy transduction strategies must be realized. In this perspective, this article discusses the development of an artificially engineered cell containing a sustainable energy conversion process.
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Cover Image
Cover Image
This issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences brings together a collection of perspectives and reviews discussing the exciting advances in synthetic biology. The cover image is an adaptation of a figure featured in the review ‘Physicochemical considerations for bottom-up synthetic biology’ by Śmigiel et al. It shows an artist's impression of a bottom-up constructed synthetic cell, representing the three basic processes of a living cell: cell fuelling (green), DNA processing (orange/red), and cell division (blue).
Artificial cells containing sustainable energy conversion engines
Kwanwoo Shin; Artificial cells containing sustainable energy conversion engines. Emerg Top Life Sci 11 November 2019; 3 (5): 573–578. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20190103
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