Synthetic cells for phage therapy: a perspective

TL;DR

This paper discusses how synthetic cells can improve phage therapy by enabling on-site phage production and smart antimicrobial materials.

Contribution

The paper introduces synthetic cells as a novel platform for programmable and evolvable phage therapy solutions.

Findings

Synthetic cells enable modular genome assembly and high-yield phage TXTL systems.

Smart hydrogel encapsulation supports logic-responsive antimicrobial biomaterials.

The proposed roadmap outlines translational clinical adoption of synthetic cells in phage therapy.

Abstract

A synthetic cell is a membrane-bound vesicle that encapsulates cell-free transcription/translation (TXTL) systems. It represents a transformative platform for advancing bacteriophage therapy. Building on experimental work that demonstrates (i) modular genome assembly, (ii) high-yield phage TXTL systems, and (iii) smart hydrogel encapsulation, we explore how synthetic cells can address major limitations in phage therapy. The promising advances include point-of-care phage manufacturing, logic-responsive antimicrobial biomaterials, and new chassis to dissect the dynamics of phage-host interactions. We also propose a roadmap for the deployment of synthetic cells as programmable and evolvable tools in the context of laboratory research and translational clinical adoption.

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