“This is a stunning scientific achievement,” said Roseanna Zia, a computational cell biologist at the University of Missouri, of the work led by the synthetic biologist Kate Adamala. The materials and procedure needed to make the Spudcell are relatively simple: a tiny lipid bubble, or liposome, containing a small genome of just 90,000 base pairs spread across seven DNA plasmids, and a kit of 36 purified enzymes. However, while Spudcells are capable of growing and dividing, they are not self-sufficient like normal living cells. It can build the inner workings of a cell-like system, but it cannot build its ribosome, meaning it cannot provide its own protein. Because of this, the Spudcells are not able to survive outside of the lab, and scientists need to feed them a nutrient-rich mix of enzymes and proteins.
Spudcells: Artificial Life
In a laboratory at the University of Minnesota, a microscopic blob was squirming in its Petri dish, and it was called the Spudcell. This so-called cell was created not from Mother Nature nor a living ancestor, but from carefully measured mixtures of chemical components. Yet, the Spudcells can grow, feed, and replicate, just like any cell would.
This achievement marks a significant milestone in the field of synthetic biology. While previous attempts to create small cells started with existing organisms and stripped them down, the SpudCell is a “bottom-up” construction, built from the ground up. It is the first-ever artificial cell to complete a full cellular life cycle, which has sparked both awe and debate within the scientific community.
Since the creation of Spudcells, debate has sparked among the scientists; one of the most common questions reflected asked was: What does it mean to be alive? “Keep in mind that ‘alive’ is not a precisely defined condition,” said John Glass, who leads synthetic cell research at the J. Craig Venter Institute and was not involved in the research. “As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography: ‘I know it when I see it.’ Being alive is sort of like that.” Despite the SpudCell’s life-like behaviors, its creators emphasized that it is not alive. They lack what is needed to sustain itself, as Admala herself described: “a bed-ridden Frankenstein’s monster that has to be spoon-fed.”
While not yet a spark of life, the Spudcell is being hailed as a pivotal “spark” for the field of synthetic biology. “This work demands our attention, not for what has been produced but for where it leads,” said Dr. David A. Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford University, adding: “It is creative, disruptive and provocative in revealing what might be possible in the not-so-distant future.”
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