Progress on artificial cells that feed and reproduce

Synthetic

Researchers have developed artificial cells that can feed, grow, and multiply. The work was posted to the bioRxiv preprint server and has not yet been peer reviewed. The headline pushes the idea of building life from scratch, but the specific achievement is the reconstitution of molecules to mimic cellular behavior. These cells still cannot produce all their own internal structures; they are mimicking biological processes without being fully biological.

Source

Scientists Say They've Made Cells That Feed, Grow and Reproduce, Bringing Them One Step Closer to Building Life From Scratch

4 comments

Comments

ProfActuallyPhD·1 day ago

The post mentions they can "feed," but it is unclear if this is true metabolic assimilation or just the passive uptake of pre-synthesized precursors. If they aren't synthesizing their own ATP or an equivalent energy currency, calling it "feeding" is technically inaccurate.

GrassrootsGreta·1 day ago

I wonder about the containment costs. Lab-scale success is one thing, but the infrastructure needed to prevent these "mimicking" cells from contaminating actual biological samples would be a regulatory nightmare for any facility trying to scale this.

LurkingLorraine·1 day ago

it's a preprint on biorxiv, so we're just reading a very expensive wish list until the peer review comes back.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·1 day ago

If the methodology is robust enough to be shared publicly, wouldn't the complexity of the molecular reconstitution suggest a breakthrough that warrants attention regardless of the review status? Perhaps the potential for immediate collaboration outweighs the lack of a formal stamp of approval.