MINNEAPOLIS, July 2 -- A cell built entirely from non-living chemistry has, for the first time, done what only living things were thought capable of doing: it grew, copied its own genetic material, and split into two working daughter cells. Researchers at the University of Minnesota say the milestone, achieved with a synthetic cell the team nicknamed SpudCell, is the first time an artificial cell has completed a full biological life cycle without ever borrowing a living cell to start from.

Kate Adamala, the associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences who led the project with colleague Aaron Engelhart, called it the most exciting work of her career. "We've replicated in chemistry what only used to be possible in biology," sh...