Building a Synthetic Cell Together

Summary

Building a SynCell from molecular components is a staggering aim that involves a broad range of scientific challenges. However, the field is still in an explorative phase, and the approach and even the ultimate goal are not unanimously agreed upon1. Building SynCells from the ground up is a highly multidisciplinary undertaking requiring international collaborations. To this end, 36 senior scientists and 12 promising junior researchers from all around the globe gathered in Shenzhen, China, in October 2024, for the inaugural ‘SynCell Global Summit’. For the first time, this meeting brought together scientists from SynCell communities in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the US. The attendees engaged in extensive discussions on challenging ideas, debated the limitations of the current approaches and worked towards establishing a consensus on the future direction of SynCell research. Researchers presented their initiatives, biofoundries, and funding programs, collectively striving to shape a unified vision for advancing the field. This article provides a brief overview of the outcomes of the summit on SynCell state-of-the-art research, major scientific challenges, and proposes synergistic efforts for the advancement of the field.The bottom-up approach to SynCells: many benefitsThere are diverse motivations for building a SynCell. For some, the drive stems from understanding, in a simplified context, the intricate processes found in living cells2 and from probing origins-of-life theories3. Others view SynCells as minimal and well controllable biomimetic systems with augmented chemistries and functions for applications in therapeutics4, energy production5, and biomanufacturing6. Notably, the SynCell community is inspired by the possibility of creating a living system, characterized by the ability to self-reproduce and evolve, from non-living building blocks. If so, the minimal conditions to “reboot” cellular life can test our fundamental understanding of life and its ba...