"Everything that is alive on Earth is made of cells! And therefore, with the fundamental knowledge of how to create cells, we can create any life that we fully understand."-Charlie Mccasland, 7th grade
On July 1st, researchers at the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota reached a breakthrough. After years of work, six biologists have created the world’s first artificial cell. According to Twin Cities, “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.” There had been attempts in the past, but none as successful as this.
“The synthetic cell presented here contains a chemically defined cell-free translation system encapsulated in liposomes. We then combine several previously demonstrated technologies, including genome replication, with new demonstrations of genetically encoded growth and division, selection, and competition for resources,“ Said the scientists, in their manuscript.
The cell, dubbed SpudCell, is able to reproduce, take in nutrients, grow, show Darwinian evolution (what you or I just think of as “evolution”), and demonstrate cell division without the need for a cytoskeleton, according to Twin Cities. “The cell is encoded via a 90kb genome that includes functions needed for resource uptake, transcription, translation, growth, genome replication, and division,” the manuscript continues.. ( “A kilobase (abbreviated kb) is a unit of measurement used to help designate the length of DNA or RNA,” according to NHGRI.) These are some of the basic elements of life, as anyone who is in 7th grade life science can attest to. By human standards, scientists have created new life from nonliving materials. This, as you may have guessed, is a huge deal.
The actual makeup of the cell is quite impressive. Most cells divide using something called a cytoskeleton. A cytoskeleton, as you may have guessed, is a type of skeleton-like structure. Cells use them for a variety of purposes, including mitotic reproduction. Cytoskeletons (Cytoskeletii? Cytoskeletae?) are, simply put, systems of different types of filaments (threads) bonded together. The ones called Actin filaments are the ones responsible for a cell’s shape, in many different ways, and splitting one shape into two qualifies as changing the shape. Unfortunately for everyone involved, however, manufacturing a cytoskeleton took more protein engineering than anyone in the lab could manage.
So, how did the researchers overcome this problem? According to the manuscript, “Here, utilizing mechanisms based on membrane fission induced by surface protein crowding , we have achieved genetically encoded synthetic cell division in the absence of cytoskeleton.” To translate, “Membrane fission is a fundamental process underlying cellular trafficking, endocytosis, cytokinesis, and viral budding,” according to ACS publications. These people are using so many different innovations to make this happen.
But that’s not all! This little fella can also feed in a special way. Through a process of fusion, the SpudCell can grow much larger, stretching its outer liposome. “Feeding, supply or acquisition of material and energy, is essential for life. Liposomes can be grown by fusion, using peptide and nucleic acid tags, lipid composition, UV, or membrane tension.
For those unfamiliar with these terms, here’s a quick breakdown. “Liposome is a spherical artificial membrane consisted with phospholipid bilayers,” according to ScienceDirect. “Peptides are short chains of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins),” according to Harvard Health Publishing. And, “Protein tags are usually smallish peptides incorporated into a translated protein,” according to Addgene Blog.
Synthetic cells can also grow via synthesis of lipids inside the liposome, coupled with DNA replication, or with lipids from outside the liposome. We implemented feeding by fusion of nanovesicles directed by peptide tags,” wrote the researchers. And this is all well and good, but why is there such a fuss over it? It’s not like this technology could do too much… right?
Incorrect, hypothetical person who thought those exact words to themselves. Everything that is alive on Earth is made of cells! And therefore, with the fundamental knowledge of how to create cells, we can create any life that we fully understand. We could create superfood plants that will grow incredibly fast, exact copies of endangered species, or even change the DNA of a living thing from within. According to National Academies Q&A with Peter Carr, “one possible application that we discuss in the report is a synthetic cell designed for breaking down environmental contaminants — chemicals that you might find in a site designated by the EPA as a cleanup site.” So many possibilities!
But with great reward comes great risk (pretty sure that’s how the saying goes). Along with the power to engineer great, helpful things, this science comes with a whole new world of threats. Let’s talk about mirror life. Essentially, every cell in the world can be a ‘right handed’ or ‘left handed’ cell, which changes nothing in terms of function (a right handed bacteria behaves the same as a left handed one), but changes how complex systems interact. “Nature chose to go with one version of that handedness for many crucial chemicals, like DNA and proteins. If scientists made a synthetic cell that used the opposite versions for its components — a cell that had the exact mirror image copies of all of those chemicals that are found in the natural cell — people have raised concerns about the potential impacts and outcomes,” according to the interview. So someone could accidentally create a virus that simply could not be stopped by human medicine, or the human body itself. Fun. Additionally, there is the fear of such a pathogen being willingly engineered to be as deadly as possible.
And on that subject, morality comes into play. What is taboo with this ability? How does it conflict with ethics, with law, with religion? Mrs. Yan says “If you asked a bunch of scientists, I would guess that all of them would say that it is not morally permissible to create humans from scratch.” But, of course, it's not guaranteed. Will laws be put into place? Norms? Conventions? How does one regulate the creation of life outside of normal means? What cultures will be created? What dangers? What wonders? All we know is that the world will never be the same.
“The synthetic cell presented here contains a chemically defined cell-free translation system encapsulated in liposomes. We then combine several previously demonstrated technologies, including genome replication, with new demonstrations of genetically encoded growth and division, selection, and competition for resources,“ Said the scientists, in their manuscript.
The cell, dubbed SpudCell, is able to reproduce, take in nutrients, grow, show Darwinian evolution (what you or I just think of as “evolution”), and demonstrate cell division without the need for a cytoskeleton, according to Twin Cities. “The cell is encoded via a 90kb genome that includes functions needed for resource uptake, transcription, translation, growth, genome replication, and division,” the manuscript continues.. ( “A kilobase (abbreviated kb) is a unit of measurement used to help designate the length of DNA or RNA,” according to NHGRI.) These are some of the basic elements of life, as anyone who is in 7th grade life science can attest to. By human standards, scientists have created new life from nonliving materials. This, as you may have guessed, is a huge deal.
The actual makeup of the cell is quite impressive. Most cells divide using something called a cytoskeleton. A cytoskeleton, as you may have guessed, is a type of skeleton-like structure. Cells use them for a variety of purposes, including mitotic reproduction. Cytoskeletons (Cytoskeletii? Cytoskeletae?) are, simply put, systems of different types of filaments (threads) bonded together. The ones called Actin filaments are the ones responsible for a cell’s shape, in many different ways, and splitting one shape into two qualifies as changing the shape. Unfortunately for everyone involved, however, manufacturing a cytoskeleton took more protein engineering than anyone in the lab could manage.
So, how did the researchers overcome this problem? According to the manuscript, “Here, utilizing mechanisms based on membrane fission induced by surface protein crowding , we have achieved genetically encoded synthetic cell division in the absence of cytoskeleton.” To translate, “Membrane fission is a fundamental process underlying cellular trafficking, endocytosis, cytokinesis, and viral budding,” according to ACS publications. These people are using so many different innovations to make this happen.
But that’s not all! This little fella can also feed in a special way. Through a process of fusion, the SpudCell can grow much larger, stretching its outer liposome. “Feeding, supply or acquisition of material and energy, is essential for life. Liposomes can be grown by fusion, using peptide and nucleic acid tags, lipid composition, UV, or membrane tension.
For those unfamiliar with these terms, here’s a quick breakdown. “Liposome is a spherical artificial membrane consisted with phospholipid bilayers,” according to ScienceDirect. “Peptides are short chains of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins),” according to Harvard Health Publishing. And, “Protein tags are usually smallish peptides incorporated into a translated protein,” according to Addgene Blog.
Synthetic cells can also grow via synthesis of lipids inside the liposome, coupled with DNA replication, or with lipids from outside the liposome. We implemented feeding by fusion of nanovesicles directed by peptide tags,” wrote the researchers. And this is all well and good, but why is there such a fuss over it? It’s not like this technology could do too much… right?
Incorrect, hypothetical person who thought those exact words to themselves. Everything that is alive on Earth is made of cells! And therefore, with the fundamental knowledge of how to create cells, we can create any life that we fully understand. We could create superfood plants that will grow incredibly fast, exact copies of endangered species, or even change the DNA of a living thing from within. According to National Academies Q&A with Peter Carr, “one possible application that we discuss in the report is a synthetic cell designed for breaking down environmental contaminants — chemicals that you might find in a site designated by the EPA as a cleanup site.” So many possibilities!
But with great reward comes great risk (pretty sure that’s how the saying goes). Along with the power to engineer great, helpful things, this science comes with a whole new world of threats. Let’s talk about mirror life. Essentially, every cell in the world can be a ‘right handed’ or ‘left handed’ cell, which changes nothing in terms of function (a right handed bacteria behaves the same as a left handed one), but changes how complex systems interact. “Nature chose to go with one version of that handedness for many crucial chemicals, like DNA and proteins. If scientists made a synthetic cell that used the opposite versions for its components — a cell that had the exact mirror image copies of all of those chemicals that are found in the natural cell — people have raised concerns about the potential impacts and outcomes,” according to the interview. So someone could accidentally create a virus that simply could not be stopped by human medicine, or the human body itself. Fun. Additionally, there is the fear of such a pathogen being willingly engineered to be as deadly as possible.
And on that subject, morality comes into play. What is taboo with this ability? How does it conflict with ethics, with law, with religion? Mrs. Yan says “If you asked a bunch of scientists, I would guess that all of them would say that it is not morally permissible to create humans from scratch.” But, of course, it's not guaranteed. Will laws be put into place? Norms? Conventions? How does one regulate the creation of life outside of normal means? What cultures will be created? What dangers? What wonders? All we know is that the world will never be the same.