And Reproduce And Reproduce And

Scientists Create Artificial Genome That Can Reproduce

It's a step toward the holy grail of synthetic biology: fully artificial organisms that can survive and reproduce like the real thing.
Jon Christian Avatar
German scientists say that for the first time ever, they've created a lab-grown artificial genome that can reproduce itself like a living organism.
Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann

Voight-Kampff

German scientists say that for the first time ever, they’ve created a lab-grown artificial genome that can reproduce itself like a natural one.

It’s not quite one of those replicants from “Blade Runner,” but it’s a step toward the holy grail of synthetic biology: fully artificial organisms that can survive and reproduce like the real thing.

The Blueprint

In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications this week, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry describe how they assembled genomes made up of blueprints for proteins — and demonstrated that it was capable of replicating 116 kilobytes worth of its own RNA and DNA.

Next up, according to a press release, the team plans to build an “enveloped system” that can reproduce like this last one — but also consume nutrition and dispose of waste, like a living cell.

READ MORE: Reproductive genome from the laboratory [Max Planck Society]

More on artificial life: A Global Collaboration to Create “Artificial Organisms” Just Went Live

Jon Christian Avatar

Jon Christian

Executive Editor

I’m the executive editor at Futurism, assigning, editing, and reporting on everything from artificial intelligence and space exploration to the personalities shaping the tech sector.