Synthetic Cells Named SpudCells Demonstrate Life-like Behaviors

A University of Minnesota team announced the creation of synthetic cells, called SpudCells, about 0.05 mm in size—roughly four times smaller than a fine grain of sand—that ingest nutrients, increase in size, divide, and outcompete mutant variants in laboratory cultures. The cells display most hallmarks of life but cease functioning after several generations.

New York Times

Synthetic-cell work has followed top-down genome reduction and bottom-up assembly. In the 1990s Craig Venter’s team trimmed a bacterium to 525 essential genes, leaving functions unknown. The SpudCell effort is led by Kate Adamala with collaborators Drew Endy, John Glass, Roseanna Zia, and nonprofit Biotic.

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The team mixed about one hundred proteins and molecules with membrane precursors, forming vesicles that trapped a 36-gene cocktail. Vesicles imported nutrients, grew, and divided within hours. In competition assays, mutant SpudCells outcompeted wild-type cells after five generations. Designs survive five to ten generations before ribosome degradation stops protein synthesis.

New York Times

Adamala noted that the cells lack a self-produced ribosome and must be supplied with ready-made ribosomes, limiting their lifespan. Glass praised the integration of division machinery as a dazzling achievement. Endy described SpudCells as built, not born, and emphasized that an open-source community will enable rapid progress while establishing safeguards.

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Scientists warn that more robust future SpudCells could be misused as bioweapons. The current inability to synthesize ribosomes restricts functional longevity, and many of the 36 engineered genes have unknown roles, underscoring gaps in understanding and raising safety questions.

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The team refrains from calling SpudCells fully alive, citing a “no clear line” between non-life and life. Uncertainty remains about the functions of 56 of the 36 genes and how to achieve indefinite division without external ribosomes.

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Biotic will hold its first meeting in September in Philadelphia to refine protocols, develop ribosome-producing variants, and draft governance frameworks for responsible synthetic-cell research.

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• “Life is not binary,” said Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist, lead researcher. “That’s why I’m hesitant to call this ‘alive.’ There’s no clear line, as much as we would love it to be.” — Kate Adamala, synthetic biologist, lead researcher

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• “It’s a cell that was built, not born. It’s constructed, but it does what cells do.” — Drew Endy, synthetic biologist, Stanford University

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• “But once it works, it works,” — Kate Adamala, synthetic biologist

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• “That’s the shake-the-ground accomplishment here,” — Roseanna Zia, computational biologist, University of Missouri

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• “We can have these conversations now, as opposed to waiting for somebody else to do it, and then we’re just all reacting,” — Drew Endy, synthetic biologist

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