Synthetic cell marks new step toward artificial life – researchers

Scientists in the US have built a synthetic cell from non-living chemical components that can feed, grow, replicate its DNA, and divide, marking a major advance toward creating artificial life, according to researchers.

The lab-made cell, dubbed SpudCell, is not considered alive but demonstrates several key behaviors associated with living organisms.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota unveiled their work on Wednesday. Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist and professor at the university, called the synthetic cell “an incredibly wimpy organism” that currently does little more than “eat and occasionally make a daughter cell.”

However, Adamala described the result as “proof of principle,” saying molecules can recreate behaviors previously linked only to natural living cells. The system is still weaker and slower than a natural cell, but could help scientists understand biology by building it from known parts, the scientist noted.