Scientists at the University of Minnesota just did something huge: they built a cell completely from scratch using non-living materials — and it can actually act alive. The project, called SpudCell, comes from the College of Biological Sciences, led by Associate Professors Kate Adamala and Aaron Engelhart. In the past, scientists could only copy one small part of what a cell does at a time — such as copying DNA, or making a cell grow. SpudCell can do all of it together. It competes to survive, copies its own DNA, grows, eats nutrients, and splits into new cells. None of its parts came from a real living thing. Adamala says this is the most exciting project of her career. She believes it proves that life doesn’t need anything magical — just chemistry. Real cells use something like an internal skeleton to help them split into two. Although building that skeleton in a lab has proven difficult, the Minnesota team found a way around it. Instead of a skeleton, proteins pile up on the outside of the cell’s membrane. Eventually there’s so much pressure that the membrane just tears apart into two cells. The scientists changed one gene so the cells would make more of a certain protein. Those changed cells grew and reproduced faster than the normal ones; after just five generations, the faster cells had completely taken over. When food was scarce, the faster cells did even better. That’s basically natural selection — survival of the fittest — happening in test tubes. One of the most surprising parts is how small the cell’s genetic code is. Scientists used to think a living cell would need at least 113,000 DNA base pairs to survive. SpudCell only needs about 90,000. Instead of having its DNA in one long strand, it’s split into seven separate loops. This means scientists can change one part of the cell’s instructions without affecting the rest. The discovery could affect society in various ways: companies currently make many drugs using bacteria or yeast that weren’t really designed for that job; a cell built specifically to make one drug could make medicines like insulin or antibiotics cheaper. It could lead to totally new medicines made from molecules that don’t exist in nature. Instead of melting plastic in factories that use tons of energy, scientists might one day grow materials like packaging or fabric at room temperature. That could mean less pollution and lower energy use. Much manufacturing today uses extreme heat and harsh chemicals, but cells can do similar jobs using water at normal body temperature. This could someday lead to safer, less toxic ways of making substances such as fabric dye and plastic. Adamala and some of her partners are planning to start Biotic, an institution intended to share technical infrastructure for synthetic cell engineering. She stated, “This work is just the beginning,” adding, “We are showing it’s possible to engineer the basic functions of the cell. 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.” Scientists compare SpudCell to the earliest computer transistors. When transistors were invented, nobody could point to a smartphone and say “this will lead to that.” But transistors became the building block for all kinds of future technology.