Amongst the several processes investigated in the Biotechnology field, aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) have been a target of relevant research, particularly in the downstream processing of high-value compounds of biological nature and, more recently, in emerging applications such as in the development of artificial cells and synthetic biology, micropatterning and 3D printing, and sample pretreatment and diagnosis. This review overviews and discusses the recent progress achieved in downstream processes using ABSs, namely by the development of integrated and continuous processes, and in emerging applications where ABSs seem to have strong potential, namely in cellular micropatterning and 3D printing, and in the pretreatment of biological samples to improve diagnosis. Advantages and bottlenecks of ABSs in all these applications are provided and discussed.

在生物技术领域研究的几种方法中，水性双相系统（ABS）已成为相关研究的目标，特别是在具有生物性质的高价值化合物的下游加工中，以及最近在新兴应用中，例如在开发中人工细胞和合成生物学，微图案和3D打印以及样品的预处理和诊断。这篇综述概述并讨论了使用ABS在下游工艺中的最新进展，即通过集成和连续工艺的发展，以及在ABS似乎具有强大潜力的新兴应用中，即在细胞微图案和3D打印中以及在ABS的预处理方面所取得的最新进展。生物学样品，以提高诊断。