In biotechnology, polymersomes[1] are a class of artificial vesicles, tiny hollow spheres that enclose a solution.
Polymersomes are made using amphiphilic synthetic block copolymers to form the vesicle membrane, and have radii ranging from 50 nm to 5 μm or more.
[2] Most reported polymersomes contain an aqueous solution in their core and are useful for encapsulating and protecting sensitive molecules, such as drugs, enzymes, other proteins and peptides, and DNA and RNA fragments.
Synthosomes are polymersomes engineered to contain channels (transmembrane proteins) that allow certain chemicals to pass through the membrane, into or out of the vesicle.
Furthermore, the use of synthetic polymers enables designers to manipulate the characteristics of the membrane and thus control permeability, release rates, stability and other properties of the polymersome.