The synthetic cell basically consists of a microscopic fat sphere that forms the cell's skeleton, technically known as a lipid membrane. Inside, it contains approximately 90,000 chemical DNA letters composing a genome reduced to its minimum expression, about 50 times smaller than natural microbes.

This genetic material includes the molecular machinery necessary to read and copy DNA, allowing these artificial cells to replicate. However, the system only works with human intervention: scientists must apply force to produce cell division.

According to the document published by Adamala's team, these cells created from scratch are capable of:

• Feeding: When scientists provide food in the form of small vesicles with biochemical compounds.
• Replicating: They can activate their genetic machinery and copy their DNA to produce daughter cells.
• Evolving: They introduced a mutation that makes cells feed more avidly, demonstrating evolutionary capacity.

However, the process has important limitations: to achieve multiple rounds of division, researchers must force cells through a membrane with tiny holes under pressure. Additionally, only 30% of resulting cells retain the complete genome after five division cycles, and the molecular machinery progressively deteriorates.

The most striking aspect is not just the scientific achievement, but how it was announced. The team published a 190-page document directly on their website, bypassing the standard peer-review process that validates scientific findings.

Adamala explained she submitted the study to Cell (a world-leading molecular biology journal), but it was rejected with the argument that "it wasn't biology." Faced with this, she contacted journalists directly from outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and Quanta Magazine, which published the news on Wednesday.

Until now, the greatest milestones in synthetic biology had been achieved with a different approach: starting from a real microbe and reducing its genome to the minimum. This approach was led by scientist Craig Venter (recently deceased at 79), who managed to create life simpler than natural life.

Adamala's approach is opposite: start from scratch and build the basic components of a self-replicating system. Her synthetic cell is made of 36 enzymes, 90,000 DNA letters, and a lipid membrane wrapping everything in a small fat bubble.

Scientists seek to develop life forms capable of performing specific functions:

Kate Adamala is a researcher at the University of Minnesota and leader of the team that created Spudcell. Her work focuses on understanding the minimal components necessary for life and building biological systems from scratch.

The name "Spudcell" was chosen because she didn't want to put her name on her creation, opting for something humble and descriptive.

The announcement raises profound questions about the definition of life. Artificial cells can feed and reproduce, but require human intervention to divide. The demonstrated "evolution" was artificially programmed.

These types of experiments attempt to design systems capable of performing fundamental functions of living beings without being exactly living beings.