A video of SpudCell - a synthetic cell assembled entirely from non-living chemical components - containing both a genome and the metabolic machinery to read it. The red membrane is stained with lipid ...

University of Minnesota researchers say "SpudCell" is the most life-like synthetic cell yet, able to grow, divide and pass traits to offspring.

While many of life's mysteries remain unsolved, every biologist can describe the basic processes performed by a living organism, including energy use, reproduction, growth and development. While these ...

The SpudCell certainly resembles a living cell, but a key structure inside the cell falls short of the real thing ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. SpudCell, built from nonliving components, grew, copied genes, divided and competed across generations in a major synthetic ...

With the long-term goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses the multifunctionality of the natural ...

When scientist J. Craig Venter and his team announced in 2010 that they had created the first cell controlled by a fully synthetic genome, it marked a turning point in how scientists think about life.

In synthetic biology, researchers develop cell-free systems: miniature factories that perform specific tasks without requiring a living cellular environment. These systems aim to be autonomous and ...

A tiny bubble of lipids, enzymes and DNA has done something biologists have chased for years: it carried out a full cycle of life-like behavior without starting from a living cell. The system, called ...