STAT+: Synthetic biology researchers think they’ve made a cell. Is it alive?
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- Kate Adamala and her team at the University of Minnesota created liposomes with DNA plasmids that divide and replicate — what may be the first synthetic cell.
- The cell-like system is "fully chemically defined" with no unknown building blocks, and can perform functions previously thought exclusive to natural living cells.
- After five generations, 30% of the liposomes still contained the original DNA code, showing partial but real self-replication.
- The synthetic cells cannot sustain themselves — they need food, a key enzyme, and food packaged in other liposomes to function.
- The researchers launched a public benefit corporation to share the technology with other scientists.
- The systems are "unlike cells in nature" but display cell-like properties, fueling debate over whether they should be considered alive.
Why it matters: Adamala's fully chemically defined cell-like system — which retains its DNA in 30% of liposomes after five generations but still needs externally fed enzymes and liposome-packaged food — is now being distributed through a new public benefit corporation, putting the 'is it alive' question directly in other researchers' hands.
