Artificial Cell Building an Artificial

Artificial Cell

Building an artificial cell

According to National Science Foundation researchers engaged in the study of the feasibility of constructing an artificial cell, the most difficult aspect of cellular biology to replicate artificially is the cell's complex exterior membrane. Each living cell is wrapped in a double-layered membrane made of oily lipid molecules. The membrane is lined with proteins and other molecules that control how food and wastes get in and out of a cell, how cells signal to and react to their environment, and how the cells divide and grow ("Team receives grant to study artificial cell membranes,"2005, Stanford News: Press Release). Feeding, movement, respiration (breathing), growth and development, sensitivity, reproduction, and excretion are the seven essential characteristics of a living being. To create such a being artificially, the solution is to seek a chemical means to reproduce these functions, all of which involve the cell membrane in some shape or form.

The cell membrane is double-layered and is made of oily lipid or fat-like molecules. Proteins in the cell control how food and wastes get in and out of a cell, how cells signal to and react to their environment, and how they divide and grow. One solution is to use "aerogels -- solid, sponge-like materials riddled with so many tiny pores that most of their volume consists of nothing but air," which are artificial substances that can be created in the lab and could replicate cellular membrane structure and functions ("Team receives grant to study artificial cell membranes,"2005, Stanford News: Press Release). Only if the cell can take in nourishment and excrete waste can the other components of the cell like the mitochondria engage in their essential tasks. When a cell can take in nourishment and excrete wastes, this is the surest first sign of independent life