Biological Lego: Scientists Built from Scratch an Artificial Cell Capable of Eating and Growing
Researchers in the United States have succeeded for the first time in building a synthetic cell from non-living chemical components, exhibiting life-like behaviors and capable of feeding itself, growing, and dividing. The breakthrough, dubbed "SpudCell,"…
Assessment
A team of American researchers has constructed a synthetic cell from non-living chemical components, marking a breakthrough in bottom-up synthetic biology. The cell, named SpudCell, can feed, grow, and divide using only 150 to 200 molecules. The developers aim to make it an open-source global platform to accelerate the bio-economy industry, while insisting its simplicity and total dependence on external feeding eliminate biosafety risks. The key question is whether this minimal cell can be reliably scaled and programmed for real-world industrial applications without unintended evolutionary drift.