Synthetic cell marks new step toward artificial life – researchers

Scientists in the US feature reinforced a synthetic substance cadre from non-living chemical substance 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.

Adamala said she named the synthetic cell ‘SpudCell’ partly to avoid naming it after herself and as a reference to Sputnik, the Soviet satellite whose 1957 launch marked the start of the space age.

The team built the cells from non-living chemical components rather than altering existing organisms. According to the project page, SpudCells contain 36 purified enzymes, a 90,000-base-pair genome spread across several DNA molecules, and a lipid membrane.

The cells work inside a chemical-rich liquid. They grow by merging with tiny ‘feeder liposomes’, which supply nutrients, enzymes and ribosomes needed to make proteins. Their genome carries instructions that help them copy DNA and divide.

The system remains limited. SpudCells depend on outside supplies, cannot build their own ribosomes, do not control their own metabolism, and often pass on the wrong amount of DNA when they divide. They typically stop working after several generations.

Scientists have been working toward synthetic life for decades. In 2010, US geneticist Craig Venter and his team unveiled what was then described as the first cell controlled by a laboratory-made genome, after transplanting synthetic DNA into a bacterium. Russian researchers have pursued parallel efforts through genome transplantation and genome reduction in Mycoplasma bacteria, seeking to identify the minimum set of genes needed to create a self-sustaining cell. In 2025, teams from Moscow State University and Novosibirsk State University were also recognized at the international SynBio Challenges competition for research related to synthetic cell engineering.

---

---