Science is getting closer and closer to synthetic life. Creating a cell from parts of living cells is one direction but building a living cell from scratch is gaining ground.

 

http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/38393/title/Proto-Organelles-for-Synthetic-Cells/

 

Interesting, this would mean that completely synthesised organisms are possible in the future. But doesn't this cell-structure look quite a lot different from the conventional cells we find today?

Interesting, this would mean that completely synthesised organisms are possible in the future. But doesn't this cell-structure look quite a lot different from the conventional cells we find today?

That is the point...

Screw nanobots. Hello synthesized cells!

Edited December 17, 201312 yr by Stetson

While interesting the big issue is the integration of parts into a sustainable entity (i.e. cell). We have been quite successful in manipulating or recreating bits and pieces, embedding proteins in vesicles and so on.

So far we still have to put the stuff into an actual living cell so that things work (unless we talk about a simple membrane system, for example).

I watched Craig Venter on Ted TV annouce the first sythetic cell.

http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life.html

So haven't we already created sythetic life?

No, Craig Venter claimed it twice and in both cases they essentially just created a pruned down a bacterial chromosome (using two different methods) and inserted it into a bacterium that got its chromosome removed. Moreover, the reduced reduced genome originated from the very same organism.

Claiming that a synthetic cell is a huge stretch.