Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time

Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time that can feed, grow and replicate like a natural cell. This breakthrough in synthetic biology could usher in an era of made-to-order organisms that function like living machines. Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist and professor at the University of Minnesota, and her team constructed the cell piece by piece from nonliving chemical components. The creation is a limited and fragile prototype, but it could help scientists better understand the origins of life and could potentially be programmed to help mitigate some of the world’s biggest biological problems....