概要：Synthesizing proteins inside liposomes and other microcompartments is a well-established practice. However, the origin of this research is not from the distant past, dating back to 1999–2004, when the first successful attempts were published. Protein synthesis and other reactions inside artificial compartments are approaches that lead to the construction of “synthetic cells” [1,2,3], a hot topic in bottom-up synthetic biology (Figure 1). The entire field ultimately relies on the convergence between chemistry, biochemistry and the chemistry and physics of artificial micro-compartments in the “colloidal domain”. Being biomimetic structures, synthetic cells can contribute to a deeper understanding of the biological organization and moreover they can be designed for very innovative uses in biotechnology. Here we summarize some technical and theoretical aspects of synthetic cell research, mainly based on gene expression and other enzymatic reactions inside liposomes, and in particular we will comment on the most recent trends. Such a tour will be an occasion for asking whether times are ripe for a sort of qualitative jump toward novel SC prototypes: is research on “synthetic cells” moving to a next level? PDF DL