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Lifeforms are regulated by many physicochemical factors, and these factors could be controlled to play a role in the construction of artificial living systems. Among these factors, spatial confinement is an important one, which mediates biological behaviors at multiscale levels and participates in the biomanufacturing processes accordingly. This review describes how spatial confinement, as a fundamental biological phenomenon, provides cues for the construction of artificial living systems. Current knowledge about the role of spatial confinement in mediating individual cell behavior, collective cellular behavior, and tissue-level behavior are categorized. Endeavors on the synthesis of biomacromolecules, artificial cells, engineered tissues, and organoids in spatially confined bioreactors are then emphasized. After that, we discuss the cutting-edge applications of spatially confined artificial living systems in biomedical fields. Finally, we conclude by assessing the remaining challenges and future trends in the context of fundamental science, technical improvement, and practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO) fibers with a spindle-knotted structure and photothermally responsive phase-transition behaviors were fabricated by combining spinning and emulsification procedures in microfluidics. The resultant GO fibers enabled fog-capture and NIR-triggered water-collection applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boronate affinity molecularly imprinted polymer inverse opal particles were developed for the multiplex label-free detection of glycoproteins with high sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cavitation system was found in solid microcapsules with a membrane shell and a liquid core. By simply treating these microcapsules with hypertonic solutions, cavitation could be controllably triggered without special equipment or complex operations. A cavitation-formed vapor bubble was fully entrapped within the microcapsules, thus providing an advantageous method for fabricating encapsulated microbubbles with controllable dimensions and functional components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile microfluidic device was developed by inserting an annular capillary array into a collection channel for single-step emulsification of double emulsions. By inserting multiple inner-phase solutions into the capillary array, multicomponent double emulsions or microcapsules with inner droplets of different content could also be obtained from the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]