Creating almost-life in the lab

Scientists have assembled a cell from scratch in the laboratory for the first time — one that feeds, grows, and replicates much as a natural cell does.

Synthetic biologist Kate Adamala and her team at the University of Minnesota built the prototype molecule by molecule from nonliving chemicals, reports New Scientist. It turned out looking rather like a potato, so they nicknamed it SpudCell. SpudCell is similar to a simple bacterium, but it’s made of just 150 to 200 molecules, while a biological cell holds millions or billions. It was assembled using 36 genes, including some from E. coli bacteria, some from phage viruses, and one from jellyfish: a fluorescent protein that helps make the cell visible. That it can replicate itself makes it lifelike, but its autonomy is limited.

Each generation must be hand-fed, and it can replicate only about once every 12 hours, compared with once every 20 minutes for E. coli. Plus, it gives out after roughly five rounds of division, when its protein-making machinery fails. That’s why it doesn’t qualify as life.

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“I would be satisfied with calling it living [only] if it’s replicating indefinitely,” says Adamala, “and if it’s capable of Darwinian evolution.”

Still, the cell is a massive leap forward for bioengineering. The researchers have made the project open source so others can work on it. Eventually, the researchers hope to see made-to-order organisms designed to capture carbon or fight cancer. “We want to be able to make all petrochemicals with living biology,” Adamala says, “so we can basically move away from oil for all the climate and societal benefits."