science

Have scientists really made a living cell from scratch? Not quite

New Scientist · Jul 1, 2026, 9:08 PM · Also reported by 3 other sources

Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.

A prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really a living organism – yet

Read full story on New Scientist → More top stories

Also covered by

NY Times SpudCell: Scientists Made a Cell With Most of the Hallmarks of Life. Here’s What to Know. Hacker News For First Time, a Cell Built from Scratch Grows and Divides Times of India Scientists build from scratch cells that can grow, feed & reproduce

Aggregated and edited by the Scoop newsroom. We surface news from New Scientist alongside other reporting so you can compare coverage in one place. Editorial policy · Corrections · About Scoop

Have scientists really made a living cell from scratch? Not quite

Also covered by

More in science