A partially self-regenerating synthetic cell

Abstract

Self-regeneration is a fundamental function of all living systems. Here we demonstrate partial molecular self-regeneration in a synthetic cell. By implementing a minimal transcription-translation system within microfluidic reactors, the system is able to regenerate essential protein components from DNA templates and sustain synthesis activity for over a day. By quantitating genotype-phenotype relationships combined with computational modeling we find that minimizing resource competition and optimizing resource allocation are both critically important for achieving robust system function. With this understanding, we achieve simultaneous regeneration of multiple proteins by determining the required DNA ratios necessary for sustained self-regeneration. This work introduces a conceptual and experimental framework for the development of a self-replicating synthetic cell.

Addressing Evolutionary Questions with Synthetic Biology

“…Several interdisciplinary consortia, such as BaSyC (Building a Synthetic Cell, www.basyc.nl), MaxSynBio (www.maxsynbio.mpg.de) and Synthetic Cell Initiative (www.syntheticcell.eu) started to work on the ambitious goal to create a completely synthetic cell-like system that has characteristics of life, such as reproduction, metabolism, growth, compartmentalization, homeostasis, heredity, adaptation and communication. Although we are still far away from a synthetic cell that is truly "alive", simple cell-like systems that exhibit some of these characteristics have already been built (Vogele et al 2018;van Nies et al 2018;Lavickova et al 2020), also reviewed in (Buddingh & van Hest 2017).…”

OnePot PURE Cell-Free System

“…It is essential to ensure that any additional components do To achieve a good yield, one should implement a temperature around 37 °C, as temperatures below 34 °C will significantly reduce the yield 27 .…”

A Wetware Embodied AI? Towards an Autopoietic Organizational Approach Grounded in Synthetic Biology

“…Research questions: What is the best material model for constructing (minimal) autopoietic systems? What is the path from simple models like autopoietic micelles ( Luisi and Varela, 1989 ); or current non-autopoietic synthetic cells ( Berhanu et al, 2019 ; Stano, 2019 ; Lavickova et al, 2020 ) to systems truly displaying autopoietic organizational relevant dynamics and AI features? 3) The epistemological dimension.…”

“…The current plan of implementation of our wetware autopoietic SB-AI research involves the integration of the following research dimensions. (Luisi and Varela, 1989); or current non-autopoietic synthetic cells (Berhanu et al, 2019;Stano, 2019;Lavickova et al, 2020)…”