Context:
Scientists at the University of Minnesota have created “SpudCell”, the world’s first fully synthetic cell built from scratch that can complete a full life cycle. It can obtain nutrients, replicate its DNA, grow and divide into daughter cells. The experiment also demonstrated mutation and natural selection among synthetic cells.
Explanation:
- A synthetic cell is a laboratory-built cell like system designed using biological molecules rather than a naturally evolved organism.
- While SpudCell replicates the complete life cycle of a biological cell, it is not considered unequivocally “alive”.
- It lacks essential metabolic defenses, cannot remove waste, and is unable to build its own ribosomes (the machinery required to make proteins).
- To survive, scientists must constantly feed it externally-supplied “feeder” vesicles containing sugars, lipids, and enzymes, meaning a single cell lineage only lasts about 5 to 10 generations.
- Named as an homage to the Sputnik satellite, SpudCell is viewed by the scientific community as a major milestone in synthetic biology.
- By building a cell from the ground up, researchers hope to understand the exact, minimal components required for life, which could eventually be scaled to create biological factories for manufacturing new fuels, pharmaceuticals, or chemical alternatives.
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