Researchers have developed the first entirely artificial cell, made completely from non-living chemical components, which they say is even capable of replicating.
A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, College of Biological Sciences, has described their synthetic cell, which they call SpudCell, in a recent preprint. SpudCell marks the first time scientists have replicated elements of life, such as energy use, reproduction, growth, and development, in a synthetic biological organism.
The Secrets of Life
While many mysteries of life and death remain for science, the team’s achievement represents a significant breakthrough, moving a concept once relegated only to science fiction into science fact. The team is hopeful that new solutions to medical and engineering problems will also arise from their achievement.
“This is likely the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on,” said co-author Kate Adamala. “We’ve replicated in chemistry what only used to be possible in biology: the complete set of behaviors of a cell. It proves that the most fundamental functions of life, like growth and replication, do not need a mysterious magical spark.”
The artificial SpudCell performs some of the most complex activities of its biological counterparts, including selection, genome replication, genetically encoded division, resource acquisition via feeding, and growth.
Like a Cell, Yet Different
Although the synthetic cell copies many biological functions, there are some differences. It lacks the internal scaffolding, called a cytoskeleton, which natural cells use to divide. Instead, SpudCell crowds proteins together on its membrane surface until enough mechanical stress builds up to cause the membrane to split.
In addition to being slightly different from a biological cell, the team refined SpudCell throughout their research, at one point altering the cell’s genetics to increase fusion protein production. With this change, the cells grew faster and produced more offspring, outcompeting the original variant in five generations. In a demonstration of the system’s selection and competition, the genetically modified advantage further increased when the team changed conditions to make nutrients scarcer.
The cell’s genetic code is relatively simple. There are about three million kilobase pairs in the human genome, and likely around 113 pairs in a single cell. SpudCell contains a mere 90, encoded on seven DNA plasmids, instead of a single chromosome. This encoding solution offers benefits, allowing researchers to program cellular functions more easily by simply touching a single piece of the modular system. They say this will enable them to continue increasing SpudCell’s complexity.
Moving Forward on Synthetic Cells
“This work is just the beginning,” said Adamala, who, along with several partners, is founding a research and engineering institution called Biotic, which will focus on further advancements in synthetic cell research, keeping its findings open source.
“We are showing it’s possible to engineer the basic functions of the cell,” Adamala added. “To fully realize the promise of this technology – to make it robust and practical – we need combined international effort.”
“The role of Biotic is to focus engineering efforts and make them compatible with a shared chassis. SpudCell is that chassis, and with Biotic setting the protocols for collaboration, we are eager to start applying this technology to serious challenges.”
The next steps for Biotic will be to combine SpudCell’s seven DNA plasmids into a single genome and build more molecular machinery. One of the greatest challenges they are preparing to confront is standardization, as many labs use different standards. To achieve true growth in this sector, Biotic aims to develop modular standards that will apply across the entire field.
SpudCell could provide a revolutionary new basis for manufacturing, allowing cells to naturally develop properties that typically require difficult and expensive molecular transformations, and even open up possibilities beyond what those transformations can offer. This could enable major improvements in medicine by using amino acids that are never used in nature.
The paper, “A Chemically Defined Synthetic Cell Capable Of Growth And Replication,” is available in preprint form on bioRxiv.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.