RESEARCH STARTER

Artificial cell

An artificial cell is a lab-created structure designed to mimic the functions of natural cells. The concept gained traction when researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute successfully engineered artificial cells in 2010. Since then, advancements have led to the development of cells that can reproduce and communicate with other cells. Scientists envision artificial cells playing a significant role in medicine, such as targeted drug delivery, by transporting medications directly to affected areas in the body. Additionally, artificial cells may be engineered to produce useful substances like clean-burning fuels and antibiotics.

The technology is also notable for its potential to create cells that can be dehydrated, enabling long-term storage of medical supplies like blood, which could be particularly beneficial in space travel and emergency scenarios. Researchers are also exploring the possibility of using these cells to combat disease-causing bacteria and even replicate organs for medical use. Overall, artificial cells represent a promising frontier in biotechnology, offering innovative solutions to various challenges in healthcare and beyond.

Full Article

An artificial cell is a cell that is similar to a natural cell but is created in a laboratory. Artificial cells are designed to imitate some functions of real cells. After the first synthetic bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome was reported in 2010, scientists continued developing synthetic cells with additional abilities, such as those that could reproduce themselves and communicate with other cells. Researchers believe that artificial cells can be developed that will be able to make useful substances such as clean-burning fuels and antibiotics. Artificial cells show potential for delivering medications to targeted locations in the body. They have special properties that researchers think may allow them to be dehydrated, making long-term storage of blood and other medical supplies possible.

Background

English philosopher and scientist Robert Hooke was the first to identify cells in 1665. Hooke noted that a sample of cork he observed under a hand-built microscope was made up of many little empty blocks. He called these blocks “cells” because he thought they looked like tiny empty rooms.

Nearly two hundred years later, German botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden and German physiologist Theodor Schwann conducted extensive research into the purpose and function of cells. They came to the realization that plant and animal cells had some significant similarities. This led them to propose cell theory between 1838 and 1839 (with Schleiden’s work on the plant cell preceding Schwann’s work on animals). Cell theory, which is a fundamental part of any study of biology, proposed that cells are the essential building blocks for all forms of life.

As scientists continued to study the cellular makeup of living organisms, they were often limited by the fragile nature of living cells. This led to the idea of creating an artificial cell that would function like a natural cell, but be sturdier, making experimentation easier. Chinese-born Canadian medical scientist Thomas Ming Swi Chang was still a student at McGill University in Montreal in 1957 when he proposed using very thin plastic to form a capsule around materials that would normally be inside a cell. This was the earliest form of an artificial cell, though it did not perform many of the functions of a real cell.

Overview

In 2010, researchers working at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland, synthesized the DNA (a Mycoplasma mycoides genome) in a laboratory and transplanted it into another empty cell. The team was led by the institute’s namesake, John Craig Venter, an American biotechnologist and geneticist. Venter worked with Hamilton Smith, an American microbiologist and Nobel laureate, and Clyde Hutchinson, an American biochemist and microbiologist.

To accomplish this task, the researchers took the genome, or full set of biological instructions, for the bacterium known as Mycoplasma mycoides and placed it inside an empty cell. The resulting microbe, which they nicknamed “Synthia,” was touted by some as a new life form, but scientists noted that it was closer to making a photocopy of something that already existed.

In conducting their research, Venter’s team discovered that scientists did not understand cells as well as they thought they did. Some of the genes that they thought were necessary for life were not, while others that they thought were unimportant turned out to be essential. They estimated that science understood only about two-thirds of how cells function and determined that the rest would take much trial and error, which can be time-consuming and expensive. To speed up their research, the team identified two species of bacteria known to have very small genomes. Further study determined that these two species had 256 genes in common. The researchers initially decided that 256 must be the minimal number of genes needed for survival.

Further experimentation uncovered more previously unknown information about cells. For instance, the researchers learned that some genes in a cell are redundant, meaning more than one of the genes are present. The cell can function without one of these copies, but if all are eliminated, the cell cannot survive.

After continued experimentation, in 2016, the research team developed a viable cell that was able to function. It contained 473 genes. Members of the team continue to study what all the genes do so that they can create newer forms of artificial cells. In 2021, researchers developed JCVI-syn3A by adding 19 genes back into JCVI-syn3.0, the world’s first minimal bacterial cell synthesized artificially. This includes several genes needed for normal cell division. In the meantime, new variations of artificial cells have been created that can replicate, or reproduce, themselves. Artificial cells have also been designed that are realistic enough to fool other cells into communicating with them as cells do within living organisms. In the 2020s artificial cell research has been focusing on a bottom-up construction approach, where scientists attempt to assemble cell-like systems from molecular components.

Some artificial cells have been made using emptied shells of other types of cells. Researchers also have developed ways to make cells from polymers, or chains of smaller molecules that are hooked together. Many everyday products are made possible by polymers, including many kinds of plastics and natural substances such as sheep’s wool. These polymers are much more durable than natural  cell membranes, which opens new possibilities for scientists to explore.

In addition to the vast amount of knowledge scientists are gaining from the experiments to create artificial cells, researchers anticipate that future versions of the cells will have many benefits for humankind. Researchers have already discovered that some artificial cells can be built in such a way that they interfere with bacteria that cause diseases. They hope that someday this function can be used to help eliminate troublesome bacteria colonies that cause infections.

Researchers also believe that artificial cells can be designed to target specific types of cells, especially those in the human body. These artificial cells could then be loaded with medication and carried directly to an affected body part. This could potentially make medications more effective and help eliminate side effects.

Medical scientists working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have noted that artificial cells made of polymers can be manipulated to have functions that natural cells do not. This means that cells can be created that can be dehydrated, or have bulky liquids removed from them, and reconstituted, or have liquids added back to them, when needed. These dehydrated cells would last longer and be easier to store than conventional cells, making them very useful for space travel. Being able to store blood and other cells used in medical treatments in a dehydrated state would be very beneficial for military and emergency purposes as well.

Scientists anticipate other uses for artificial cells, too. They hope to be able to develop some that can grow clean biofuels. Cells ultimately may be created that can help replicate organs and other body parts for temporary or permanent replacements as well.


Bibliography

Adamala, K.P., et al. “Present and Future of Synthetic Cell Development.” Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, vol. 25, 2024, pp. 162–67, doi:10.1038/s41580-023-00686-9. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Callaway, Ewen. “‘Minimal’ Cell Raises Stakes in Race to Harness Synthetic Life.” Nature, 24 Mar. 2016, www.nature.com/news/minimal-cell-raises-stakes-in-race-to-harness-synthetic-life-1.19633. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Coghlan, Andy. “Artificial Cell Designed in Lab Reveals Genes Essential to Life.” New Scientist, 24 Mar. 2016, www.newscientist.com/article/2082278-artificial-cell-designed-in-lab-reveals-genes-essential-to-life/. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Gibson, Daniel G et al. “Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome.” Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 329, 2010, pp. 52–6, doi:10.1126/science.1190719. Accessed 26 May 2026.

National Institute of Standards and Technology. “Scientists Develop Cell with Synthetic Genome That Grows and Divides Normally | NIST.” NIST, 29 Mar. 2021, www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/03/scientists-develop-cell-synthetic-genome-grows-and-divides-normally. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Ossola, Alexandra. “Researchers Make Artificial Cells That Can Replicate Themselves.” Popular Science, 29 Sept. 2015, www.popsci.com/researchers-make-artificial-cells-that-can-replicate-themselves. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Pelletier, James F., et al. “Genetic Requirements for Cell Division in a Genomically Minimal Cell.” Cell, vol. 184, no. 9, 2021, pp. 2430–40.e16, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.008. Accessed 26 May 2026.

“The Promise of Synthetic Cells: Revolutionary New Drugs, Outer Space Explorers and Pushing Beyond the Limits of Evolution.” NIST, 31 July 2024, www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/promise-synthetic-cells-revolutionary-new-drugs-outer-space-explorers-and. Accessed 27 May 2026.

“These Artificial Cells Are Not Alive—But They Just Passed the Turing Test.” Science Alert, 30 Jan. 2017, www.sciencealert.com/these-artificial-cells-are-not-alive-but-they-just-passed-the-turing-test. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Xu, Can, et al. “Artificial Cells: From Basic Science to Applications.” Materials Today, vol. 19, no. 9, Nov. 2016, pp. 516–32, doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2016.02.020. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Yong, Ed. “The Mysterious Thing about a Marvelous New Synthetic Cell.” Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/the-quest-to-make-synthetic-cells-shows-how-little-we-know-about-life/475053/. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Full Article

An artificial cell is a cell that is similar to a natural cell but is created in a laboratory. Artificial cells are designed to imitate some functions of real cells. After the first synthetic bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome was reported in 2010, scientists continued developing synthetic cells with additional abilities, such as those that could reproduce themselves and communicate with other cells. Researchers believe that artificial cells can be developed that will be able to make useful substances such as clean-burning fuels and antibiotics. Artificial cells show potential for delivering medications to targeted locations in the body. They have special properties that researchers think may allow them to be dehydrated, making long-term storage of blood and other medical supplies possible.

Background

English philosopher and scientist Robert Hooke was the first to identify cells in 1665. Hooke noted that a sample of cork he observed under a hand-built microscope was made up of many little empty blocks. He called these blocks “cells” because he thought they looked like tiny empty rooms.

Nearly two hundred years later, German botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden and German physiologist Theodor Schwann conducted extensive research into the purpose and function of cells. They came to the realization that plant and animal cells had some significant similarities. This led them to propose cell theory between 1838 and 1839 (with Schleiden’s work on the plant cell preceding Schwann’s work on animals). Cell theory, which is a fundamental part of any study of biology, proposed that cells are the essential building blocks for all forms of life.

As scientists continued to study the cellular makeup of living organisms, they were often limited by the fragile nature of living cells. This led to the idea of creating an artificial cell that would function like a natural cell, but be sturdier, making experimentation easier. Chinese-born Canadian medical scientist Thomas Ming Swi Chang was still a student at McGill University in Montreal in 1957 when he proposed using very thin plastic to form a capsule around materials that would normally be inside a cell. This was the earliest form of an artificial cell, though it did not perform many of the functions of a real cell.

Overview

In 2010, researchers working at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland, synthesized the DNA (a Mycoplasma mycoides genome) in a laboratory and transplanted it into another empty cell. The team was led by the institute’s namesake, John Craig Venter, an American biotechnologist and geneticist. Venter worked with Hamilton Smith, an American microbiologist and Nobel laureate, and Clyde Hutchinson, an American biochemist and microbiologist.

To accomplish this task, the researchers took the genome, or full set of biological instructions, for the bacterium known as Mycoplasma mycoides and placed it inside an empty cell. The resulting microbe, which they nicknamed “Synthia,” was touted by some as a new life form, but scientists noted that it was closer to making a photocopy of something that already existed.

In conducting their research, Venter’s team discovered that scientists did not understand cells as well as they thought they did. Some of the genes that they thought were necessary for life were not, while others that they thought were unimportant turned out to be essential. They estimated that science understood only about two-thirds of how cells function and determined that the rest would take much trial and error, which can be time-consuming and expensive. To speed up their research, the team identified two species of bacteria known to have very small genomes. Further study determined that these two species had 256 genes in common. The researchers initially decided that 256 must be the minimal number of genes needed for survival.

Further experimentation uncovered more previously unknown information about cells. For instance, the researchers learned that some genes in a cell are redundant, meaning more than one of the genes are present. The cell can function without one of these copies, but if all are eliminated, the cell cannot survive.

After continued experimentation, in 2016, the research team developed a viable cell that was able to function. It contained 473 genes. Members of the team continue to study what all the genes do so that they can create newer forms of artificial cells. In 2021, researchers developed JCVI-syn3A by adding 19 genes back into JCVI-syn3.0, the world’s first minimal bacterial cell synthesized artificially. This includes several genes needed for normal cell division. In the meantime, new variations of artificial cells have been created that can replicate, or reproduce, themselves. Artificial cells have also been designed that are realistic enough to fool other cells into communicating with them as cells do within living organisms. In the 2020s artificial cell research has been focusing on a bottom-up construction approach, where scientists attempt to assemble cell-like systems from molecular components.

Some artificial cells have been made using emptied shells of other types of cells. Researchers also have developed ways to make cells from polymers, or chains of smaller molecules that are hooked together. Many everyday products are made possible by polymers, including many kinds of plastics and natural substances such as sheep’s wool. These polymers are much more durable than natural  cell membranes, which opens new possibilities for scientists to explore.

In addition to the vast amount of knowledge scientists are gaining from the experiments to create artificial cells, researchers anticipate that future versions of the cells will have many benefits for humankind. Researchers have already discovered that some artificial cells can be built in such a way that they interfere with bacteria that cause diseases. They hope that someday this function can be used to help eliminate troublesome bacteria colonies that cause infections.

Researchers also believe that artificial cells can be designed to target specific types of cells, especially those in the human body. These artificial cells could then be loaded with medication and carried directly to an affected body part. This could potentially make medications more effective and help eliminate side effects.

Medical scientists working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have noted that artificial cells made of polymers can be manipulated to have functions that natural cells do not. This means that cells can be created that can be dehydrated, or have bulky liquids removed from them, and reconstituted, or have liquids added back to them, when needed. These dehydrated cells would last longer and be easier to store than conventional cells, making them very useful for space travel. Being able to store blood and other cells used in medical treatments in a dehydrated state would be very beneficial for military and emergency purposes as well.

Scientists anticipate other uses for artificial cells, too. They hope to be able to develop some that can grow clean biofuels. Cells ultimately may be created that can help replicate organs and other body parts for temporary or permanent replacements as well.


Bibliography

Adamala, K.P., et al. “Present and Future of Synthetic Cell Development.” Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, vol. 25, 2024, pp. 162–67, doi:10.1038/s41580-023-00686-9. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Callaway, Ewen. “‘Minimal’ Cell Raises Stakes in Race to Harness Synthetic Life.” Nature, 24 Mar. 2016, www.nature.com/news/minimal-cell-raises-stakes-in-race-to-harness-synthetic-life-1.19633. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Coghlan, Andy. “Artificial Cell Designed in Lab Reveals Genes Essential to Life.” New Scientist, 24 Mar. 2016, www.newscientist.com/article/2082278-artificial-cell-designed-in-lab-reveals-genes-essential-to-life/. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Gibson, Daniel G et al. “Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome.” Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 329, 2010, pp. 52–6, doi:10.1126/science.1190719. Accessed 26 May 2026.

National Institute of Standards and Technology. “Scientists Develop Cell with Synthetic Genome That Grows and Divides Normally | NIST.” NIST, 29 Mar. 2021, www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/03/scientists-develop-cell-synthetic-genome-grows-and-divides-normally. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Ossola, Alexandra. “Researchers Make Artificial Cells That Can Replicate Themselves.” Popular Science, 29 Sept. 2015, www.popsci.com/researchers-make-artificial-cells-that-can-replicate-themselves. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Pelletier, James F., et al. “Genetic Requirements for Cell Division in a Genomically Minimal Cell.” Cell, vol. 184, no. 9, 2021, pp. 2430–40.e16, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.008. Accessed 26 May 2026.

“The Promise of Synthetic Cells: Revolutionary New Drugs, Outer Space Explorers and Pushing Beyond the Limits of Evolution.” NIST, 31 July 2024, www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/promise-synthetic-cells-revolutionary-new-drugs-outer-space-explorers-and. Accessed 27 May 2026.

“These Artificial Cells Are Not Alive—But They Just Passed the Turing Test.” Science Alert, 30 Jan. 2017, www.sciencealert.com/these-artificial-cells-are-not-alive-but-they-just-passed-the-turing-test. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Xu, Can, et al. “Artificial Cells: From Basic Science to Applications.” Materials Today, vol. 19, no. 9, Nov. 2016, pp. 516–32, doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2016.02.020. Accessed 26 May 2026.

Yong, Ed. “The Mysterious Thing about a Marvelous New Synthetic Cell.” Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/the-quest-to-make-synthetic-cells-shows-how-little-we-know-about-life/475053/. Accessed 26 May 2026.

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