Cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) is a highly versatile experimental environment to construct biochemical systems in vitro by executing either natural or synthetic gene circuits. I will present several experiments using an all-E. coli TXTL system. First, I will present this TXTL system, what it is, what it does. In the second part of my talk, I will show examples of dynamical systems directed by gene circuits executed either in test tubes or in microfluidic chips. In the last part of the talk I will show how we construct synthetic cell systems using TXTL and how synthetic cells are convenient to uncover and quantify fundamental aspects of supramolecular assembly.
Vincent Noireaux is a Professor of Synthetic Biology and Biological Physics at the University of Minnesota. His lab uses cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) to produce proteins in vitro and engineer biochemical systems such as gene circuits, phages, and synthetic cells. Dr. Noireaux earned a BS in Applied Physics from the University of Tours (France), his Ph.D. at the Curie Institute in Paris, and he did a postdoc at The Rockefeller University in New York City.