A physical method for putting molecules inside cells. Cells flow through a microfluidic constriction that briefly opens pores in the membrane, cargo diffuses in, and the membrane reseals within seconds — no electrical pulse, no viral vector, no lipid carrier.
Portal Bio builds the instruments and consumables that make mechanoporation practical from the research bench to clinical GMP, across a broad range of cell types and cargos, with near-zero transcriptional disruption.
Method | How it works | Cargos it handles | Effect on the cell | Practical limit |
Electroporation | Brief electric pulse permeabilizes the membrane. | Most cargo classes. | Wide transcriptional disruption (330+ misregulated genes at q<0.05). Reduced viability and proliferation. | Often requires cell pre-activation to survive the pulse. |
Lipofection / LNPs | Lipid carrier shuttles cargo across the membrane via endocytosis. | Mostly RNA and DNA. | Variable cell-type response; lipid- and endocytosis-dependent toxicity. | Not a route for proteins, RNPs, or small molecules. |
Viral vectors (AAV, lentivirus) | Capsid binds the cell and delivers a packaged genome. | Genes, within a size limit. | Immunogenic; risk of integration or unwanted persistence. | Slow and expensive to produce; cargo size capped. |
Mechanoporation | Cells flow through a constriction; transient pores form by mechanical deformation. | Any cargo class — proteins, RNPs, mRNA, small molecules, DELs, etc. | Effectively no transcriptional disruption (0 misregulated genes at q<0.05). | Cartridge selected per cell type. |
Simultaneous CRISPR RNP, mRNA, and dextran delivered to T cells in a single step (0% in control).
High-throughput, arrayed CRISPR editing across a full 96-well plate (~100 automated dispenses) in primary human T cells.
Mechanoporation leaves the transcriptional state intact: 0 misregulated genes at q<0.05 versus 330+ for electroporation (DiTommaso 2018).
Mechanoporation is one platform that handles cells and payloads other methods can't. If yours isn't listed, we run feasibility studies.
