Researchers say they have built a synthetic cell largely from non-living chemical components that can grow, copy its own DNA and divide into daughter cells, a combination of functions that they say had not previously been achieved this way, according to Quanta Magazine and CNN. The team describes it as a significant step for synthetic biology, while cautioning that it is not a living organism and is not self-sustaining.
The work was led by Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist at the University of Minnesota, Quanta reported. The cells were informally dubbed "spudcells" by her students. The results were posted on July 2 to the bioRxiv preprint server, according to Quanta, and have not been peer-reviewed, meaning outside scientists have not yet formally vetted the claims.
In their preprint, the researchers report the cell can perform growth, replicate its genome and undergo genetically encoded division, CNN reported. The team also says the working synthetic genome contained about 90 kilobase pairs of DNA, smaller than the roughly 113 kilobase pairs that had previously been thought necessary for a functioning cell.
How it differs from earlier work
Efforts to create minimal or synthetic life are not new. In 2010, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute booted up a bacterial cell running on a chemically synthesized genome, and later produced a stripped-down "minimal" bacterium. Those approaches, however, relied on transplanting genetic material into existing living cells. The University of Minnesota group instead assembled its cell from separately prepared chemical parts, an approach the researchers argue is closer to building a cell from the ground up, according to reporting by CNN and Quanta.
Independent experts described the result as notable. "I don't know of any other effort to put together an artificial cell from biological components that has progressed so far," Jack Szostak of the University of Chicago told Quanta. John Glass of the J. Craig Venter Institute called it "a staggering technical accomplishment" that "will prove to be a watershed event for the synthetic-cell field," according to Quanta.
Important limitations
Several caveats temper the claim. The synthetic cells cannot survive outside the laboratory and depend on an external supply of nutrients and of ribosomes, the molecular machines that build proteins, which are purified from E. coli bacteria, Quanta reported. Because the cell lacks its own metabolism and cannot generate energy independently, it is not self-sustaining. Michael Lynch of Arizona State University called the work "a synthetic biology tour de force" but warned against "over-hyping the cell since it's not yet self-sustaining," according to Quanta.
Why it matters and what's next
If the results hold up under peer review, researchers say building cells from defined chemical parts could give scientists a controllable platform to study how life's basic processes work and to engineer cells for tasks such as producing medicines, according to Quanta and Business Today. Fox News framed the work as a step toward artificial life that raises longer-term questions about oversight of synthetic-biology research. For now, the immediate test is independent replication and formal review of the preprint, which will determine how the claim is ultimately received.