Synthetic biology may finally be ready to solve life's biggest mystery
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- University of Missouri scientists created the SpudCell, a 36-gene entity that self-assembled into cell-like bubbles and produced proteins when supplied with life's building blocks
- SpudCell cannot metabolize food, generate its own energy, or reliably divide, and requires externally supplied ribosomes to make proteins at all
- J. Craig Venter Institute biologists synthesized a 473-gene stripped-down bacterial genome in 2010 and inserted it into another cell's emptied DNA chassis, producing a reproducing organism
- Scientists did not understand what roughly a third of the 473 genes in the 2010 Venter organism were doing or whether they were even needed
- Researchers hope improved synthetic cells can eventually produce materials now derived from fossil fuels, including plastics, fuels, and fertilizer
- The broader goal is to understand what life requires and how living entities emerge from non-living materials
Why it matters: University of Missouri's 36-gene SpudCell is the first synthetic cell-like entity to self-assemble from scratch, advancing past the 2010 J. Craig Venter Institute milestone of transplanting a 473-gene synthetic genome into a recipient cell. The source states the work targets a long-term capability to derive plastics, fuels, and fertilizer from engineered cells rather than fossil fuels.
