Since its inception four decades ago, cell-free synthesis (CFS) has been used to produce biomolecules such as RNA, DNA, peptides, and proteins (1). However, most of these applications have been in early stage research and small-scale proof-of-concept studies, with rare examples of large-scale production. The slow industrial uptake of CFS has been attributed to low productivity, which suggests an uneconomical path to large-scale manufacture. Typically, a CFS platform includes a genetic template (encoding the product of interest), chemical additives (nucleotides…