In a step toward sophisticated artificial cells, scientists have engineered a silicon chip that can produce proteins from DNA, the most basic function of life.
The system, though relatively simple, suggests a path to mimicking life with partly manufactured components, says Roy Bar-Ziv, a materials scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, who is leading the work.
Image: A simple artificial cell has circular chambers etched into silicon. These contain DNA, and are connected by microfluidic channels to a bath of cellular enzymes. - http://www.technologyreview.com
