SpudCell: Scientists Made a Cell With Most of the Hallmarks of Life. Here’s What to Know.

What is SpudCell?

SpudCell is a synthetic cell made by scientists at the University of Minnesota. It was created in a lab from lifeless chemicals but can perform most of the same functions as living cells. It eats, grows and reproduces, passing along its genetic material to future generations.

Although it’s not the first synthetic cell ever created, SpudCell is the first to complete a full life cycle — from birth to division into next-generation cells — after having been created from the “bottom up” using laboratory chemicals. It’s a pared down version of a living cell structure, revealing the basic genetic and structural components necessary for the functions of life.

So, is it alive?

No. Or maybe! The researchers behind SpudCell do not claim to have created life, though they note that there is “no single agreed definition” of life and that their cell-like system acts similarly to living cells.

“SpudCell performs the behaviors often used to tell the living from the inert — it feeds, grows, replicates its genome, divides and undergoes selection — yet it is far simpler than any natural cell and was assembled, part by part, by hand,” the project researchers wrote in a statement.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/science/spud-cell-what-to-know.html