We Accidentally Built a Synthetic Cell Factory

b.next evolved from an academic group into a manufacturing operation that produces Cytosol, the core substrate for synthetic cells, and has shipped its 100th kit. The team replaced the unavailable, often-mutated 36-plasmid OnePot PURE system with a newly designed open-access plasmid set that yields detectable protein after nine months. Supply-chain failures for tRNA from Roche and Sigma led b.next to develop reliable, open protocols and components for the synthetic-cell community.