Recent advances in cell-free gene expression (CFE) systems have enabled their use for a host of synthetic biology applications, particularly for rapid prototyping of genetic circuits and biosensors. Despite the proliferation of cell-free protein synthesis platforms, the large number of currently existing protocols for making CFE extracts muddles the collective...
Advances in biosensor engineering have enabled the design of programmable molecular systems to detect a range of pathogens, nucleic acids, and chemicals. Here, we engineer and field-test a biosensor for fluoride, a major groundwater contaminant of global concern. The sensor consists of a cell-free system containing a DNA template that...
Recent advances in cell-free synthetic biology have spurred the development of in vitro molecular diagnostics that serve as effective alternatives to whole-cell biosensors. However, cell-free sensors for detecting manmade organic water contaminants such as pesticides are sparse, partially because few characterized natural biological sensors can directly detect such pollutants. Here,...