Building synthetic cells requires hundreds of genes and molecules working together, in the same cell, at the same time. No one has yet integrated biological systems at this scale. I created prototype synthetic cells using defined parts—an enclosing lipid membrane, a fully-defined synthetic cytosol, and several cell-essential systems encoded as DNA and expressed within the cells—and observed these synthetic cells using cryo-electron tomography. I show that cryo-ET can be used not only to make observations, but as a universal engineering assay, capable of quantifying and characterizing multiple cell components simultaneously, regardless of each component’s function. Using this visual measurement I show how to determine concentrations and structures of multiple molecules simultaneously, driving the integration of molecular parts into synthetic cells, and providing insight and inspiration for ongoing efforts to produce life from scratch.

Public Zoom link: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/97716594246?pwd=bFhBS3pGWWtmRUZ4TDB4Mk9yRHY0UT09