World’s first synthetic cell with a complete life cycle could revolutionize biological engineering

While many of the mysteries of life remain unsolved, every biologist can describe the basic processes performed by a living organism, which include energy use, reproduction, growth and development. While these characteristics can be replicated in isolation in a lab, the idea of a completely synthetic biological organism has long been relegated to science fiction.

Associate Professors Kate Adamala and Aaron Engelhart and their teams at the College of Biological Sciences have developed the world’s first synthetic cell with a complete life cycle, built entirely from non-living chemical components, and described it in a new paper. The project, called SpudCell, marks a major breakthrough in biological engineering. In time, it may provide solutions to some of our most challenging problems in medicine and engineering.

“This is likely the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on,” said Adamala. “We’ve replicated in chemistry what only used to be possible in biology: the complete set of behaviors of a cell. It proves that the most fundamental functions of life, like growth and replication, do not need a mysterious magical spark.”