Biomaterials
Asimov grappled with the dangers of creating machines similar to humans, forcing his readers to ask: should we be making synthetic life at all? When it comes to research around synthetic cells, the ‘should we be doing this?’ discussion is certainly part of the scientific discourse. That’s not least when research into both fundamentals of synthetic cells – and how they might ultimately be used beyond their usual function – is so dynamic. But since the furore surrounding Dolly the Sheep in the 1990s, there have been fears that experimenting with artificial life, and especially synthetic cells, could result in material ripe for bioterrorism. Ethically, meanwhile, some believe that cellular creation violates the sanctity of nature, commoditises life and ultimately amounts to playing God.
Dr Petra Schwille, director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and steering committee member at SynCellEU, gives short shrift to such discussion – especially in her area of non- applicative, fundamental research. When it comes to bottom-up biology – or creating a cell in a lab – she says “we’re not talking about human life or anything that is even close, in terms of being self-conscious”, instead describing her creations as a minimal living unit that would be much, much simpler than even the simplest bacterium. As Schwille adds, no such cell could compete with species that have already evolved on Earth. Ergo: the risks are simply not there.
Artificial work
Indeed, ethical quandaries don’t appear to be preventing research into understanding these cells – or how they might be used medically. Since Thomas Ming Swi Chang was credited with creating the first artificial cell, in 1957, the field has bubbled with innovation. From sustainable synthetic cell systems that feed off carbon dioxide; to how magnetic field stimulation might help synthetic cells deliver therapeutics in biological tissue; to how synthetic stem cells might battle conditions like arthritis – this is clearly a sector on the move. And in a turn that feels almost fictional, at least for the meantime, an article in Synthetic Biology details how synthetic cells may allow for so-called ‘designer’ therapeutics, tailored to the genetic make-up of an individual patient and which can target tumorous cells while ignoring healthy biological material. From within Schwille’s SynCellEU network, meanwhile, there are claims that synthetic cells could have a future in patient-tailored treatments for cancer, even as they could help target drugs more accurately and fight antimicrobial resistance.
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
Elsewhere, scientists are exploring how synthetic cells might be controlled to respond to their environment, critical in the length of treatment delivery and specificity, and how their use might result in less wasteful manufacturing processes. It sounds, in short, like pioneering stuff – and the markets have certainly taken notice. The value of synthetic biology companies is expected to hit a cumulative capitalisation of over $37bn by 2027, almost quadrupling in size from $9.5bn in 2021.
When it comes to research on synthetic cells, the ‘should we be doing this?’ discussion is part of the discourse.
“With this discovery, we can think of engineering fabrics or tissues that can be sensitive to changes in their environment and behave in dynamic ways.”
Ronit Freeman, University of North Carolina
Sector insiders may have noticed recent headlines around research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led by Ronit Freeman, which centres on claims that it has created synthetic cells that look and act like cells from the body. “With this discovery,” Freeman told Science Daily, “we can think of engineering fabrics or tissues that can be sensitive to changes in their environment and behave in dynamic ways,” adding that these materials could ultimately surpass pure biology. No less important, Freeman also argued that there is potential for these cells to operate in environments unsuitable to human life, and that they might even be able to modify themselves to serve multiple functions. In what is described as a first-ever breakthrough, this is done via a new programmable peptide-DNA technology that directs peptides – the building blocks of proteins – to form a so-called cytoskeleton. When added to water, meanwhile, this cell-structuring mechanism forms an effective synthetic cell.
473
The number of genes that scientists created in 2016, as a single-celled synthetic organism that was the
simplest living cell ever known.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, US
111
murat photographer/
Shutterstock.com
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