Spatiotemporal Control of Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation for Advanced Biomanufacturing

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a fundamental mechanism that governs the spatiotemporal organization of biomolecules and is implicated in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, emerging evidence suggests that LLPS also holds significant potential as a tool in biomanufacturing, enabling advanced metabolic engineering through the generation of responsive compartments both in vivo and in vitro. This review focuses on the spatiotemporal control of LLPS for biomanufacturing applications and highlights recent advances in its use to enhance catalytic efficiency, facilitate programmed bioreactions, sequester toxic components, and serve as biosensors. We also discuss the major challenges confronting the application of LLPS in biomanufacturing and propose future directions for the rational design of programmable and robust synthetic systems based on LLPS.