A First-of-Its-Kind Cell Can Copy DNA and Divide, Raising Questions About Life’s Edge and Existence—and Whether We Can Build Life From Scratch

A milestone for synthetic biology

At a synthetic biology meeting at Stanford in May 2025, Kate Adamala showed fellow researcher Drew Endy results from her lab. Endy later described seeing SpudCell as a striking moment after years of studying cell-like objects that could not grow and divide.

Endy likened the creation to an early airplane: limited, but still a plane. In his view, SpudCell is similarly basic, yet qualifies as a cell because it can grow and divide.

How SpudCell was assembled

Work on the project began shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The cell combines a membrane made from fat molecules, a watery interior, a genome containing 36 genes and proteins that use genetic instructions to make proteins.

Adamala’s team developed a way to supply the artificial cells with fats and the building blocks needed for DNA and proteins. The process involved extensive trial and error, she said.

Testing growth and replication

By early 2024, images suggested the cells had passed through five rounds of growth and replication. Because images alone could be misleading, the researchers compared DNA levels at the start with levels after five generations.

A shared platform for researchers

Adamala and Endy hope other synthetic biologists will use SpudCell as a common starting point, or chassis, for their research. They began organizing the effort under the name Biotic, with investor Chris Raggio providing a $10 million philanthropic donation.

Adamala’s paper describing SpudCell appeared on her lab’s website on July 1, 2026. She said she feared public scrutiny would reveal a fatal flaw, but no such email arrived.