Toward sustainable, cell-free biomanufacturing

Blake J. Rasor, Bastian Vögeli, Grant M. Landwehr, Jonathan W. Bogart, Ashty S. Karim, Michael C. Jewett

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

Industrial biotechnology is an attractive approach to address the need for low-cost fuels and products from sustainable resources. Unfortunately, cells impose inherent limitations on the effective synthesis and release of target products. One key constraint is that cellular survival objectives often work against the production objectives of biochemical engineers. Additionally, industrial strains release CO2 and struggle to utilize sustainable, potentially profitable feedstocks. Cell-free biotechnology, which uses biological machinery harvested from cells, can address these challenges with advantages including: (i) shorter development times, (ii) higher volumetric production rates, and (iii) tolerance to otherwise toxic molecules. In this review, we highlight recent advances in cell-free technologies toward the production of non-protein products beyond lab-scale demonstrations and describe guiding principles for designing cell-free systems. Specifically, we discuss carbon and energy sources, reaction homeostasis, and scale-up. Expanding the scope of cell-free biomanufacturing practice could enable innovative approaches for the industrial production of green chemicals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)136-144
Number of pages9
JournalCurrent Opinion in Biotechnology
Volume69
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2021

Funding

M.C.J. has a financial interest in SwiftScale Biologics and Design Pharmaceuticals Inc. M.C.J.’s interests are reviewed and managed by Northwestern University in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.M.C.J. acknowledges support from the Department of Energy Grant DE-SC0018249, the DOE Joint Genome Institute ETOP program, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Grant DE-EE0008343, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Program. The work conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. B.J.R. was supported by an NDSEG Fellowship (Award ND-CEN-017-095). B.V. was supported by a SNSF Early Postdoc Mobility fellowship (P2SKP3_184036). G.M.L. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1842165). The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. M.C.J. acknowledges support from the Department of Energy Grant DE-SC0018249 , the DOE Joint Genome Institute ETOP program , the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Grant DE-EE0008343 , the David and Lucile Packard Foundation , and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Program . The work conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. B.J.R. was supported by an NDSEG Fellowship (Award ND-CEN-017-095). B.V. was supported by a SNSF Early Postdoc Mobility fellowship ( P2SKP3_184036 ). G.M.L. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship ( DGE-1842165 ). The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Bioengineering
  • Biomedical Engineering

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