Table 1.

A comparison of the different approaches for encapsulating cells in polymers

Encapsulation approaches	Polymer types	Encapsulation efficiency	Biocompatibility	Polymer thickness	Cell types
Layer-by-layer self-assembly8,10,11,52,53	Biomolecules; synthesized copolymers; extracellular matrix	High	Mostly moderate	<10 nm; 30–135 nm; accordingly	Bacteria; yeast cells; mammalian cells; tissue
Chemical polymerization12,18	Synthetic reactive monomers	High	Low	Accordingly	Mammalian cells
Cell-in-microgel17,54,55	Alginate	>90 %	High	5.8 μm	Mammalian cells
Microfluidic encapsulation17,54	Synthetic branched polymers; biopolymers (polysaccharide, alginate, etc.)	High	High	<200 μm	Mostly Mammalian cells
isDOP in this work	DNA polymers	>95 %	High	<10 nm	Bacteria; yeast cells; mammalian cells