New synthetic cells tiptoe toward creating life

Artistic rendering of synthetic cells — The man-made SpudCells have demonstrated a complete cell cycle of growth

(Image credit: Yana Iskayeva / Getty Images)

What happened

Scientists at the University of Minnesota Wednesday announced that they created synthetic cells from non-living chemicals that can perform many of the functions of living cells, like feeding, growing, dividing and replicating their genetic material. Lead researcher Kate Adamala said she named them SpudCells after Sputnik but also “because I’m mostly made of potatoes.” Her team said they are the “first synthetic cell with a complete cell cycle.”

The SpudCell is a “major step” toward “discovering the alchemy by which chemicals can be turned into life,” The New York Times said. With just 36 genes, it’s a “limited and fragile prototype,” CNN said, “but it could help scientists better understand the origins of life” and potentially solve “human problems” like “new cancer treatments and novel ways to capture carbon or manufacture chemicals.” The SpudCell could also “challenge our preconceived notions of what’s considered ‘life,’” said Futurism.

“We’re going to remember this moment,” said computational cell biologist Roseanna Zia, who wasn’t involved in the research, per the Times. The “shake-the-ground accomplishment here” was the ability of SpudCells to compete with each other, leading to more sophisticated progeny.

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