High-Throughput Exploration of Biological Polymer Synthesis
Top: Biological polymers like melanin can be created with various starting substrates and biological catalysts, creating a complex testing problem in which different melanin-like particles arise from distinct substrate–enzyme pairings. Middle: Cell-Free synthetic biology is an ideal tool to explore complex chemical spaces like melanin formation, allowing enzymes and substrates to be combined in high throughput and measured with a variety of analytical tools. Bottom: This yields extensive biochemical characterization data as well as physical characterization data, including microscopy images of melanin-like particles made using a variety of substrates and enzymes.
