Researchers Take Big Step Toward Making Synthetic Life

Scientists in Minnesota say they've built something from scratch that's not alive—but behaves like it was. Synthetic biologist Kate Adamala and her team created "SpudCells": tiny, wobbling spheres assembled from non-living chemicals that can grow, copy their synthetic DNA, and split into "offspring," according to research posted online. Unlike earlier efforts that tweaked existing organisms, these cells were constructed from the ground up, using liposomes filled with lab-made DNA and a surrounding chemical soup that provides energy and the machinery to make proteins, the Guardian reports. They're believed to be the first synthetic cells to complete the growth and division cycle.

They're fragile, short-lived, and heavily dependent on their environment. Other researchers say they are far from being a living cell, since they can't divide over more than a few generations, Science reports. They also can't evolve, though they can mimic evolution, with faster-growing versions created by inserting a genetic mutation overtaking slower ones. "Life is not binary," Adamala tells the New York Times. "That's why I'm hesitant to call this 'alive.' There's no clear line, as much as we would love it to be." Supporters call the work a huge step toward understanding how life becomes life, and toward eventually designing tailor-made biological factories for drugs, fuel, or food. In theory, synthetic cells could also draw huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The research is being reviewed for publication in a scientific journal. Adamala and collaborators are launching a nonprofit research institute, Biotic, to push the cells toward what co-founder Drew Endy at Stanford University describes as an "operating system for life." Endy compares SpudCells to the Wright brothers' early plane. "The Wright flyer flying for 12 seconds doesn't get you a 737," he tells the Times. "This is just the beginning."

• Why the name SpudCells? "I'm Polish," Adamala says. "I'm mostly made of potatoes." She also likes the echo of Sputnik. She says colleagues initially wanted to name the creation after her but she told them, "Call it something that's not my name, call it a potato for all I care."