Conventional cell-free protein synthesis systems had been the major platform to study the mechanism behind translating genetic information into proteins, as proven in the central dogma of molecular biology. Albeit being powerful research tools, most of the in vitro methods at the time failed to produce enough protein for practical use. Tremendous efforts were being made to overcome the limitations of in vitro translation systems, though mostly with limited success. While great knowledge was accumulated on the translation mechanism and ribosome structure, researchers rationalized that it may be impossible to fully reconstitute such a complex molecular process in a test tube. This review will examine how we have solved the difficulties holding back progress. Our newly developed cell-free protein synthesis system is based on wheat embryos and has many excellent characteristics, in addition to its high translation activity and robustness. Combined with other novel elementary technologies, we have established cell-free protein synthesis systems for practical use in research and applied sciences.

正如分子生物学的中心法则所证明的那样，传统的无细胞蛋白质合成系统一直是研究将遗传信息转化为蛋白质的机制的主要平台。尽管是强大的研究工具，但当时的大多数体外方法都未能产生足够的实际用途的蛋白质。人们付出了巨大的努力来克服体外翻译系统的局限性，但大多取得了有限的成功。虽然在翻译机制和核糖体结构方面积累了丰富的知识，但研究人员合理地认为，在试管中完全重建如此复杂的分子过程可能是不可能的。这次审查将审查我们如何解决阻碍进展的困难。我们新开发的无细胞蛋白质合成系统基于小麦胚胎，除了具有高翻译活性和稳健性外，还具有许多优异的特性。结合其他新颖的基础技术，我们建立了可在研究和应用科学中实际使用的无细胞蛋白质合成系统。