Signal 'Almost Alive': Scientists built artificial cell-like blob 'SpudCell' that eats, grows, and divides

Summary

University of Minnesota synthetic biologist Kate Adamala's team built SpudCell, a synthetic cell-like system from non-living chemical components, described in a preprint posted to bioRxiv that has not yet undergone peer review. SpudCell consists of a microscopic water droplet in a fatty membrane containing 150-200 molecules and a roughly 90-kilobase-pair genome distributed across seven DNA plasmids encoding about 36 genes for resource uptake, protein production, replication, growth and division — notably smaller than a prior scientific estimate of 113 kbp as the minimum genome needed for a viable cell. It feeds via help from "feeder liposomes" carrying lipids, enzymes, ribosomes and small molecules, using a protein called alpha-hemolysin (αHL), and divides not through normal cellular mechanisms but by splitting under mechanical stress when surface proteins aggregate, with evidence it can undergo a crude form of selection across generations. Adamala said, "We've replicated in chemistry what only used to be possible in biology: the complete set of behaviors of a cell," while cautioning "SpudCell is not a 'finished' cell, and it is far simpler than anything in nature... SpudCell is proof of what is possible." The team has founded a public-benefit corporation called Biotic, with co-founders including Drew Endy, Jan Jedryszek and Chris Raggio, to develop the technology further, with expected applications as microfactories for pharmaceuticals and biofuels.