In the quest to build an artificial cell, there are two approaches: The first, reengineers the genomic software of a living cell. The second, focuses on cellular hardware, building simple, cell-like structures from the ground up that mimic the function of living cells. One of the biggest challenges in this second approach is mimicking the intricate chemical and biological reactions required for cells to perform complex behaviors.
Now, an international team of researchers from Harvard University and Sogang University in Seoul have engineered a cell-like structure that harnesses photosynthesis to perform metabolic reactions, including energy harvesting, carbon fixation and cytoskeleton formation.
The research is published in Nature Biotechnology.
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