Overview
Prof. Kate Adamala and her team at the University of Minnesota have built SpudCell, a cell-like system constructed entirely from known chemical components that can perform a complete cell cycle.
The system contains 36 purified enzymes, a 90,000 base pair genome spread across nine separate DNA molecules, and a lipid membrane. SpudCell is able to grow, replicate its genome, divide, and undergo selection and competition across multiple generations.
Unlike earlier work on minimal cells that carved down living cells, SpudCell is built entirely bottom-up from individually purified, non-living components. It is the first time such a system has demonstrated a complete cell cycle.
Not sure I’d call it a complete cell cycle if they have to keep feeding it pre-built ribosomes for protein synthesis.
Pretty damn close though. Regular cells gotta eat too.
It’s not using the ribosomes for metabolism, though—it’s using them to translate the proteins that make up its membrane. So it’s more like a virus, in that it contains the DNA for its unique proteins but needs to use another cell’s machinery to produce them.
Still… mind-blowing!
I’m Irish, where’s the potato at in this episode?
