Engineering Life: Chemists Have Created the Functional Synthetic Cells That Act Like Real Ones ( scitechdaily.com )

The engineering of artificial cells requires a reconfigurable cytoskeleton that can organize at distinct locations and dynamically modulate its structural and mechanical properties. This study combines peptide self-assembly with DNA programmability to realize a synthetic cytoskeleton in droplets showing that programmable peptide–DNA nanotechnology approach is a powerful platform towards the construction of functional, fully artificial cells.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-024-01509-w
(open access)

witty_username ,

Didn't Venter's lab do something like this already 10 ish years ago?

meyotch ,

Not quite. I think you may be referring to their genome transplant. They used a natural cell and completely replaced the original genome with synthesized DNA. Whereas this project did not rely on existing cellular machinery.

beefbot ,

I know no microscopic biology but I imagine other natural cells encountering such a cell and recoiling from it the same way dogs who sniff a robot dog and sense nothing are legit highly freaked out 😂

teft ,
@teft@lemmy.world avatar

Uncanny valley but for cells.

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