Kate Adamala has a vision of the future. In it, biology would replace chemical manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimate success,\u201d says the synthetic biologist, would be that \u201call the atoms we\u2019re moving in our economy are moved with biology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adamala and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis announced one step toward that future on July 1 when the team unveiled SpudCells, synthetic cells that can replicate their DNA and divide multiple times.<\/p>\n
Some people have hailed SpudCells as the first synthetic life. Adamala is not one of them. SpudCells are \u201cobviously not living,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re cells but they\u2019re not alive.\u201d<\/p>\n