Reaction-diffusion in a 2D array of cell mimics, perfused by a microfluidic biochemostat

In biological systems, the spatio-temporal localization, of biochemical reactions, is the constituent force generating compartmentalized living entities. This work is part of the collective effort, of bottom-up synthetic biology, to create synthetic cells and communities from first principles. In this work, I used porous polymer cell mimics to compartmentalize discrete DNA packages. I employed these properties to execute gene regulatory networks, programmed within the cell mimics, using cell free transcription and translation (TXTL). I developed a multilayer microfluidic chip to perfuse a 2D array of cell mimics immobilizing a reaction diffusion gene regulatory network.