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Hydrogels

Gene jelly

It's been possible for some time to create proteins synthetically, but cell-free gels that can produce proteins up to 300 times as efficiently as solution processes could provide new directions and greater complexity in synthetic biology.

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Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the production and action of cell-free protein-producing gels.

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Rabe, K., Niemeyer, C. Gene jelly. Nature Mater 8, 370–372 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2434

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