Compartmentalized microbes and co-cultures in hydrogels for on-demand bioproduction and preservation

Most mono- and co-culture bioprocess applications rely on large-scale suspension fermentation technologies that are not easily portable, reusable, or suitable for on-demand production. Here, we describe a hydrogel system for harnessing the bioactivity of embedded microbes for on-demand small molecule and peptide production in microbial mono-culture and consortia. This platform bypasses the challenges of engineering a multi-organism consortia by...