Scientists Develop Synthetic Cell That Could Transform Medicine

A recent achievement in synthetic biology may open the door to a new era of custom-designed living organisms functioning as biological machines, according to CNN.

Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist and professor at the University of Minnesota, along with her research team, constructed a synthetic cell piece by piece using non-living chemical ingredients.

This innovation represents a limited-capacity prototype, but it could aid scientists in better understanding the origins of life and may eventually be programmed to help address some of the world’s most significant biological challenges.

The newly created cell does not belong to plants or animals but closely resembles a simple bacterium.

Adamala stated, "I know the complete list of components in this cell, and I know precisely the chemicals and molecules present and their concentrations. It is a fully defined cell, which means we can engineer it."

For decades, scientists have genetically engineered natural cells to tackle human health issues. A well-known example is inserting human insulin genes into Escherichia coli bacteria to produce insulin for diabetes treatment.

Researchers view synthetic cells as the next frontier in this field, with potential applications including developing new cancer therapies, creating unprecedented methods for carbon capture, and manufacturing various chemicals.

Cells are the fundamental units of life but are far from simple. The human body contains approximately 37 trillion cells, a number exceeding the stars in the sky. Despite this, scientists still do not fully understand how all cell types operate or the complete set of components they contain.

Yuval Elani, who was not involved in the study, explained that the synthetic cell developed by Adamala and her colleagues does not represent "life created inside a laboratory."

Adamala named her invention "Spodcell" as a joke, since she did not want the cell to bear her name. The name is a play on "Sputnik 1," the Soviet satellite that launched the space age in the 1950s.

She added, "We hope we are indeed at the beginning of the real bioeconomy era by providing technology that enables people to engineer biology."

On Wednesday, Adamala and her team published a scientific paper detailing how "Spodcell" functions, although the study has not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Adamala indicated that she plans to submit it for publication within the week.

Alongside scientists Drew Endy and Jan Jedrzejczyk and biotech entrepreneur Chris Rajio, Adamala co-founded a public-benefit organization called "Bio Tech," aiming to advance synthetic cell capabilities by making them accessible to researchers worldwide.

"Spodcell" consists of 150 to 200 molecules and can feed, grow, and divide for up to five generations, according to Adamala. However, it is far less complex than a natural biological cell, which contains millions or even billions of molecules.

Adamala described the cell as "an extremely fragile organism that currently only consumes food and occasionally produces a daughter cell."

Each generation requires feeding and takes about 12 hours to divide at 30 degrees Celsius. In comparison, Escherichia coli bacteria divide every 30 minutes.

The synthetic cell’s genome is much smaller than that of natural cells, comprising 90,000 base pairs, whereas bacterial genomes contain about 4.6 million base pairs.

Although "Spodcell" can divide like natural cells, it employs a completely different mechanism. Natural cells rely on a cytoskeleton, an internal structural framework that the synthetic cell lacks.

Instead, the synthetic cell produces proteins that accumulate on its outer membrane, causing the membrane to split.

"Spodcell" cannot produce its own ribosomes, the essential components that synthesize proteins in natural cells. Therefore, it depends on ribosomes obtained from Escherichia coli bacteria during feeding.

Adamala explained, "This is just the beginning. It is a foundational platform we hope to build upon, which is important because we now have a reasonable idea of how to develop it further."

Elani noted that the synthetic cell does not fully mimic natural cells, but he did not consider this a disadvantage.

Other scientists not involved in the research described the work as an exciting scientific advancement.

Does This Synthetic Cell Constitute Life?

The researchers highlighted that one of the most notable achievements of their work is demonstrating that synthetic cells are subject to natural selection forces, the process by which certain traits become more or less common over time.

When the team introduced a genetic modification that increased production of a growth protein, cells carrying this modification grew and divided faster.

However, since this change was deliberately introduced rather than arising from a random genetic mutation, it cannot be said that Spodcell is "evolving" in the biological sense.

Drew Endy, an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University who was not part of Adamala’s research but is a founder of the "Bio Tech" organization, stated that "Spodcell" cannot be considered true life.

He said, "We do not fully understand life yet; we are still far from that. Nor do we have absolute control over matter to create whatever we want. I can say Kate built a cell, but I do not believe she created life."

Endy added, "Even physicists do not understand all the secrets of gravity, yet engineers can build bridges."

He also noted that in its current form, "Spodcell" poses no biosafety risks and cannot be used, for example, to produce biological weapons.