Scientists have unveiled synthetic cells aimed at revolutionising industrial production by serving as tiny biological factories to make environmentally friendly materials for goods from drugs to plastics.
The new invention known as SpudCell will be made available to researchers around the world, as part of an expanding effort to put micro-scale bioengineering at the heart of lower-carbon manufacturing for everyday items.SpudCell is the first synthetic system to achieve a complete cell cycle of feeding, growth and reproduction, according to a paper released on Wednesday but not yet peer-reviewed. It is built from the bottom up using known non-living chemical components, as opposed to previous methods based on pared-down living cells and their naturally occurring parts.
The discovery highlights how progress in synthetic biology is opening dramatic new possibilities for turning cells from existing life forms and human-made variations on them into miniature workshops. The advances have intensified debate over how the powerful technologies should be owned and regulated, particularly if it one day becomes possible to make living organisms in laboratories.Bioengineered microbes are already used as miniature factories to make products such as insulin and biodegradable plastics. The consultancy McKinsey estimated in 2023 that 400 use cases of bioengineering more widely, almost all of them scientifically feasible, could have an annual economic impact of $2tn to $4tn from 2030 to 2040.