Scientists Build the First Synthetic Cell That Feeds, Grows and Reproduces: SpudCell Is Here

[Jordan_68]

Researchers led by Kate Adamala at the University of Minnesota have built a cell from nonliving chemical components that can feed, grow and briefly reproduce, the first time scientists have created a synthetic cell with most of the hallmarks of life assembled from the bottom up rather than modified from an existing living organism. The cell, named SpudCell, was published in the New York Times and confirmed across multiple sources on July 1 as a breakthrough in synthetic biology that opens entirely new territory in both research and ethical debate.

SpudCell has a minimal genome of approximately 90,000 base pairs, compared to E. coli's 4.6 million, and cannot produce its own ribosomes: it ingests ribosomes from the E. coli it is fed during the division process, using borrowed cellular machinery for protein synthesis. It has no cytoskeleton, the internal scaffolding that gives natural cells their structure, instead relying on assembled protein molecules that disrupt the membrane to allow division. In its current form SpudCell can only divide when supplied with a complete set of components including ribosomes, meaning it has zero capacity to reproduce itself outside that tightly controlled context. The researchers are explicit that it poses no biosafety risk in its current state and cannot be weaponised, describing multiple fail-safes that would prevent it functioning if released into any natural environment.

The scientific significance is the principle itself. Building a cell from scratch rather than engineering a modified version of an existing one means researchers are no longer bound by the evolutionary constraints and accumulated baggage of natural biology. A system designed from the ground up can be programmed for tasks that natural cells cannot perform, and the ability to add safeguards directly into the genome from the start is a biosecurity advantage over engineering natural organisms. The researchers acknowledge the precedent creates a future where more people could build cells, with the associated potential safety and security concerns that will require careful governance as the technology matures.

Synthetic Cell Researchwww.cnn.com