{"id":6776,"date":"2026-07-01T23:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cifrum.kz\/spudcell-synthetic-cell-growth-dna-division\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:17:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:17:23","slug":"spudcell-synthetic-cell-growth-dna-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cifrum.kz\/en\/spudcell-synthetic-cell-growth-dna-division\/","title":{"rendered":"SpudCell completes a cell-like cycle but is not yet alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MINNEAPOLIS, United States.<\/strong> University of Minnesota researchers have presented SpudCell, a bottom-up cell-like system that can acquire resources, grow, copy DNA and divide under laboratory conditions. The authors describe it as the first chemically defined synthetic cell to combine the principal stages of a cell cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results appear in a 190-page manuscript<\/a> posted on July 1 by the nonprofit organisation Biotic. The work has not yet been peer-reviewed, and SpudCell is not an autonomous living organism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the researchers assembled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SpudCell is a liposome, a microscopic water-filled compartment surrounded by a lipid membrane. It contains a multipart genome of about 90,000 base pairs, a DNA replication system and the chemically defined PURE protein-synthesis system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuilt from scratch\u201d means the team did not reduce or modify an intact living cell, but assembled the system from separately purified components. Those components are nevertheless biological in origin: SpudCell uses ready-made ribosomes and enzymes from E. coli<\/em>. This differs from editing genes inside existing cells<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How SpudCell obtains resources and grows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The system does not produce its principal nutrients on its own. Researchers add \u201cfeeder\u201d liposomes containing lipids, sugars, enzymes, transfer RNA, ribosomes and other components. The \u03b1-hemolysin protein produced from instructions in the SpudCell genome helps these vesicles attach to and fuse with its membrane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fusion expands the membrane and replenishes the interior. SpudCell, however, lacks a self-sufficient metabolism, a way to manufacture ribosomes, an advanced waste-removal system and protection from its environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the genome is copied and division occurs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DNA is copied using Phi29 polymerase. In experiments spanning five sequential cycles, researchers physically pushed the liposomes through a membrane filter after each stage, dividing them mechanically. After five cycles, about 30% of analysed daughter cells retained the complete set of genome components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate set of experiments, the authors demonstrated a tighter link between genome activity and division. SpudCell produced a tagged membrane protein, while an externally added linker and streptavidin crowded proteins on the surface, bent the membrane and triggered splitting. Division therefore depended on gene expression but still required external reagents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selection was demonstrated, but not autonomous evolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The researchers pre-engineered a variant with a stronger T7Max promoter that produced more \u03b1-hemolysin and obtained resources more efficiently. Its share of a mixed population increased over five cycles. This demonstrates competition and selection between designed variants, but not spontaneous Darwinian evolution: random mutations did not arise in the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why SpudCell is not considered alive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Quanta Magazine<\/a> cites independent researchers who regard the study as an important technical step while stressing the system’s dependence on constant resource deliveries and ready-made ribosomes. The Guardian<\/a> also reports that project leader Kate Adamala does not regard SpudCell as a living cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The manuscript also contains an editorial inconsistency: one section says the genome is divided among eight plasmids, while the next refers to seven. The total size of about 90,000 base pairs is reported consistently, but the number of separate molecules requires clarification by the authors and reviewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with other prominent results first released as preprints<\/a>, the findings require independent assessment and replication by other laboratories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Biotic organisation was created<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the results, Kate Adamala, Stanford University bioengineer Drew Endy and colleagues launched the nonprofit organisation Biotic. It plans to make methods and tools available to researchers in an effort to accelerate development of more robust synthetic cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such systems could eventually help researchers study the minimum requirements for life, test biological models and build programmable bioreactors. Producing medicines, fuels or materials remains a long-term research objective rather than a ready technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/strong> the SpudCell project at Biotic<\/a>, the research manuscript<\/a>, Quanta Magazine<\/a>, The Guardian<\/a>, and the University of Minnesota<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image was generated with artificial intelligence for Cifrum.kz and is a conceptual scientific illustration. It is not a SpudCell micrograph and does not reproduce the exact molecular structure of the experiment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A University of Minnesota team has presented SpudCell, which can grow, copy DNA and divide. The system depends on external feeding and ready-made ribosomes, and the work has not been peer-reviewed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_focus_keyword":"SpudCell,synthetic cell,synthetic biology,cell cycle,DNA replication,Kate Adamala","rank_math_title":"SpudCell grows and copies DNA but is not yet alive","rank_math_description":"SpudCell was assembled from chemically defined components and can grow, copy DNA and divide. 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