The human-made cells show many hallmarks of life, but they can't make all their necessary internal structures or divide for ...

What makes something alive? We simply don't know, but synthetic biologists are a step closer to providing an answer thanks to ...

A tiny blob in a dish has pushed one of biology’s oldest questions into new territory: When does inanimate chemistry become ...

In this case, the gene encoding T7 RNA polymerase was added to the SpudCell genome, and it was made by those artificial cells ...

This cell-like structure can grow, feed, divide and compete. Researchers ponder what it means for the future of synthetic ...

From why it was created to whether it’s alive, here’s what to know about SpudCell, the latest advance in synthetic biology.

A prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really ...

A group of University of Minnesota researchers have just effectively created something like life. It’s an artificial cell named after a potato. “This is likely the most exciting project I’ve ever ...

Scientists have engineered 'SpudCell,' a lab-made system from chemicals that mimics life's core functions like growth and ...

Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time that feeds, grows and replicates like a natural cell, a ...

Living systems rely on molecules fitting together precisely. A key concept is chirality – many biological building blocks come in mirror-image forms, like left and right hands. Life on Earth mostly ...

Aliza Chasan is a Digital Content Producer for "60 Minutes" and CBSNews.com. She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. Aliza ...