Can Xu, Nicolas Martin (now at the University of Bordeaux), and Mei Li from the Bristol Centre for Protolife Research have demonstrated a method for building highly complex protocells using viscous micro-droplets filled with living bacteria as a microscopic building site.As a step towards the construction of a synthetic/living cell entity, the researchers implanted living bacteria into the protocells to generate self-sustainable ATP production and long-term energization for glycolysis, gene expression, and cytoskeletal assembly.Curiously, the protoliving constructs adopted an amoeba-like external morphology due to on-site bacterial metabolism and growth to produce a cellular bionic system with integrated life-like properties.Hopefully, our current bacteriogenic approach will help to increase the complexity of current protocell models, facilitate the integration of myriad biological components and enable the development of energized cytomimetic systems.”First author Dr. Can Xu, a Research Associate at the University of Bristol, added: “Our living-material assembly approach provides an opportunity for the bottom-up construction of symbiotic living/synthetic cell constructs.For example, using engineered bacteria it should be possible to fabricate complex modules for development in diagnostic and therapeutic areas of synthetic biology as well as in biomanufacturing and biotechnology in general.”Reference: “Living material assembly of bacteriogenic protocells” by Can Xu, Nicolas Martin, Mei Li, and Stephen Mann, 14 September 2022, Nature."