Project description
Creating synthetic life from artificial molecules
Life is a mystery, and synthetic life holds the potential to provide insights into its origins and existence elsewhere. Additionally, it can facilitate the creation of new materials and catalysts. Can we synthesise life? The ERC-funded SynLife project seeks to answer this question by synthesising life from artificial molecules, using chemically fuelled droplets as self-sustaining compartments. The project aims to develop self-replicating molecules capable of mutating and partitioning within these droplets, thereby acquiring an identity. If successful, this endeavour will establish a synthetic system capable of Darwinian evolution, representing a significant advancement in our comprehension of life. Furthermore, the outcomes will have ramifications for the biophysics community and revolutionise material design by incorporating Darwinian evolution as a manufacturing tool.
Objective
Life is a mystery, with questions about how it emerged and if it exists elsewhere. Synthetic life can bring us closer to answers to these millennia-old questions. It is also extremely powerful to evolve new materials and catalysts, similar to directed evolution with bacteria. It begs the question, can we synthesize life?
SynLife aims to synthesize life from man-made molecules following NASAs definition:Life is a self-sustaining system capable of Darwinian evolution.
Chemically fueled droplets will be the self-sustaining compartments. These self-dividing droplets compete for fuel (i.e. food) to thrive and will decay without fuel. We will develop self-replicating molecules that can mutate and partition inside of these droplets, so the droplets obtain an identity. For example, a population of droplets with replicator A differs from a population with replicator B. Moreover, these replicators affect the droplets phenotype, for example, by helping division or by offering longevity. To date, the combination of self-sustaining droplets and replicators has never been achieved.
Finally, populations of droplets compete with each other. In fueling-starvation experiments, it is expected that, from time to time, a droplet mutates into a better-suited one and passes this information on to the next generation. If we reach this ambitious goal, we have produced a synthetic system capable of Darwinian evolution.
The results will mark a massive step forwards in our understanding of life. It also sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that may have played a role in the origin of life. It will have implications for the biophysics community, too, as our findings help understand how additives to droplets affect their properties, just like in membraneless organelles.
But, most excitingly, SynLife will change how we think of material design by introducing Darwinian evolution as a manufacturing tool.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences biological sciences biophysics
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80333 Muenchen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.