Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow claims that he may have developed cell-like structures capable of adapting to changing environments.1 The materials that he has used to create what he calls iCHELLS (inorganic chemical cells) are known as polyoxometalates. These are compounds made with various metal atoms combined with oxygen (O) and phosphorous (P). Tungsten (W) is the most common metal used.
He creates large negatively charged ions of these metal oxides and creates a salt by mixing these ions with protons (positively charged hydrogen [H+]) or sodium (Na+). He next injects a solution of this salt into a solution containing an organic salt with large organic cations (positive ions) and small anions (negative ions). What results is a salt of the metal oxide anion with the organic cation that precipitates from the solution in the form of a small bubble-like structure. He is able to manipulate the form of these structures to give them some of the characteristics of organic cell membranes such as selective permeability that will control what chemicals reside within the bubble. He has created bubbles within bubbles to give the appearance of the internal structure of living cells. He has attached photosensitive dyes to the iCHELLS which enabled them to mimic rudimentary photosynthesis, including the ability to split H2+ and O plus an electron (e-), an important step in the process.
It is during his current experiment, scheduled to run for seven months that he has given some indication that he has succeeded in modifying the iCHELLs so that they will adapt to the environment they are in. The final results are still a few months away and the details have not yet been published. Last year he also showed that polyoxometallates could serve as templates for self-replication analogous to how DNA and RNA operate. Taken together, these could be good first steps toward creating artificial life.
Reproduction, self-repair, adaptation, growth, and evolution are all characteristics of single-celled and more complex life as we know it. If Cronin is able to induce these iCHELLs to perform all three, would this constitute a new form of life? It would seem to be. If he is able to accomplish this, and it is not certain that he will, it would revolutionize our understanding of what life forms might be possible on other planets in our solar system and elsewhere in the universe. It may expand the Goldilocks zone and drastically increase the possibility of finding other life.
1. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20906-lifelike-cells-are-made-of-metal.html
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| One of the iCHELLs. Image from NewScientist.com. |
It is during his current experiment, scheduled to run for seven months that he has given some indication that he has succeeded in modifying the iCHELLs so that they will adapt to the environment they are in. The final results are still a few months away and the details have not yet been published. Last year he also showed that polyoxometallates could serve as templates for self-replication analogous to how DNA and RNA operate. Taken together, these could be good first steps toward creating artificial life.
Reproduction, self-repair, adaptation, growth, and evolution are all characteristics of single-celled and more complex life as we know it. If Cronin is able to induce these iCHELLs to perform all three, would this constitute a new form of life? It would seem to be. If he is able to accomplish this, and it is not certain that he will, it would revolutionize our understanding of what life forms might be possible on other planets in our solar system and elsewhere in the universe. It may expand the Goldilocks zone and drastically increase the possibility of finding other life.
1. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20906-lifelike-cells-are-made-of-metal.html
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