Micro-Bioreactor Mimicking a Cellular Environment
  We report that a cell-sized water droplet (CWD) with a diameter of several tens of microns can serve as a micro-biochemical reactor. Since the droplet inner surface is covered by a phospholipid layer, it provides an environment similar to that in living cells. The CWD is manipulated with laser tweezers and we monitor the time-development of biochemical reactions in a single CWD by fusing two droplets which contain a substrate and an enzyme, respectively. As actual examples of enzymatic reactions, we present results on the reaction of calcein with esterase and on the expression reaction of green fluorescent protein. 
Masahiko Hase, Ayako Yamada, Tsutomu Hamada, Kenichi Yoshikawa