Figure 5.

Microfluidic steps required for protocell assembly utilizing existing microfluidic production technology. (a) parallel production of the individual protein components in a microreactor array; (b) rapid purification of produced components; (c) production of nucleic acid components for “genomes” or scaffolding purposes by either PCR or oligonucleotide synthesis methods; (d) encapsulation of component mixes in lipid monolayer stabilized emulsions; (e) component mixing—multiple mixing steps with either symmetric or asymmetric droplets can be implemented; (f) formation of the outer bilayer leaflet around the emulsion droplets to complete the protocell membrane; (g) addition of surface receptors by liposome fusion or in vitro transcription/translation (refer to Figure 2 for more details of this stage of assembly). Note that not all alternatives for the individual steps are shown—refer to text for details.