Eat, Grow, Divide: The First-Ever Synthetic Cells Built in a Lab   

• Scientists have taken a major step toward building life from scratch by creating an artificial cell that exhibits unprecedented life-like functions. The prototype, nicknamed SpudCell, was developed by a team led by University of Minnesota scientist Kate Adamala. It is a microscopic sphere containing chemicals and DNA with just 36 essential genes, enclosed by a fatty membrane. When placed in a nutrient-rich solution, it absorbs energy, grows, divides, and shows a basic ability to evolve over several generations. However, researchers agree SpudCell is not technically alive. It cannot produce its own ribosomes, the molecular machines responsible for making proteins, thus requiring scientists to provide necessary chemicals. It also stops functioning after a few generations. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and experts caution that creating a fully synthetic living cell remains a distant goal. Even so, many scientists see it as an important milestone for synthetic biology. “It is proof of principle that molecules can reconstitute behaviors that, up until now, we only associated with natural living cells,” Adamala said. The research could eventually help scientists understand the origins of life or design custom cells to produce medicines and useful chemicals. Yesel Kang Copy Editor junior/1785397571/1613367813