Scientists trying to create artificial life generally work under the assumption that life must be carbon-based, but what if a living thing could be made from another element?

One British researcher may have proven that theory, potentially rewriting the book of life. Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow has created lifelike cells from metal — a feat few believed feasible. The discovery opens the door to the possibility that there may be life forms in the universe not based on carbon, reports New Scientist.

Even more remarkable, Cronin has hinted that the metal-based cells may be replicating themselves and evolving.

"I am 100 percent positive that we can get evolution to work outside organic biology," he said.

The high-functioning "cells" that Cronin has built are constructed from large polyoxometalates derived from a range of metal atoms, like tungsten. He gets them to assemble in bubbly spheres by mixing them in a specialized saline solution, and calls the resultant cell-like structures "inorganic chemical cells," or iCHELLs.

The metallic bubbles are certainly cell-like, but are they actually alive? Cronin has made a compelling case for the comparison by constructing the iCHELLS with a number of features that make them function much as real cells do. For instance, by modifying the outer oxide structure of the bubbles so that they are porous, he has essentially built iCHELLs with membranes capable of selectively allowing chemicals in and out according to size, much as what happens with the walls of real cells.

Cronin's team has also created bubbles inside of bubbles, which opens the door to the possibility of developing specialized "organelles." Even more compelling, some of the iCHELLs are being equipped with the ability to photosynthesize. The process is still rudimentary, but by linking some oxide molecules to light sensitive dyes, the team has constructed a membrane that splits water into hydrogen ions, electrons and oxygen when illuminated — which is how photosynthesis begins in real cells.

Of course, the most compelling lifelike quality of the iCHELLs so far is their ability to evolve. Although they aren't equipped with anything remotely resembling DNA, and therefore can't replicate themselves in the same way that real cells do, Cronin has nevertheless managed to create some polyoxometalates that can use each other as templates to self-replicate. Furthermore, he is currently embarked on a seven-month experiment to see if iCHELLs placed in different environments will evolve.

Why is this not in News? Seems like it'd be relatively fine, given you grab a link as a source.

The reason organic life is based on Carbon is because Carbon can make stronger bonds with more elements. Without Carbon, everything would fall apart because elements cannot have a stable hold on other elements.

There would have to be an element that has 6 bonds, which is what Carbon has, or more.

>>4 Look, I believe you completely and I think its a major discovery. But in order for most people to believe you, you'll have to provide a link to an article. Doesn't matter if your best friends with the guy who did it and seen it yourself, you need a link to an article that talks about these iCHELLS. Otherwise, everyone will think you just made it up.

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/scientist-creates-lifelike-cells-out-of-metal

Someone says this has something to do with it. Did'nt read it.http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin//research.php?theme=Inorganic%20Biology%20and%20Evolvable%20Systems

Dang, I knew that synthetic life had been created using a carbon organic base. But I always thought that the only plausible alternative to carbon based life would be a silicon base due to the number of valence electrons in both elements atomic structure. A metallic base never occurred to me. Definitely a major development from a biological standpoint.

quite interesting

bump†

HOLY CRAP! BUMP

Bump this shit! SO COOL!

I'm curious which other properties indicate that they have life-like qualities, though. Do they respirate, or have some sort of metabolism? Do they grow? How exactly would they "evolve" in different environments - what is in their chemical makeup that would allow them to adapt to different environments? It would be interesting if they could adapt so quickly due to being relatively simple constructs, as well as reproducing by template and not by genetic code, because that would imply evolution amongst them would occur insanely fast in comparison to normal life. But there would be less diversification.

That might be thinking too far ahead though - I guess the point is that they got something to exhibit life-like qualities and sustain itself. And that's pretty damned neat.

bump up

My friend said that even a pinch of a mistake existed things might go wrong and instead of coolness that it offers it will be a threat.

looks cool

like little ball(s) of mercury

>>12
Wow Misuto you look super curious just like i am. I wonder how does this will be developed in the future...

>>14 If you're thinking of sci-fi movies and the like, you'll find that it would be incredibly hard to create something that could be even the slightest threat to humanity as a whole out of an innocent science experiment.

See this xkcd article on the idea of a robot apocalypse for a similar train of thought.

>>17 I just want to see where they're going with this. In the most direct way, they could create inorganic life out of simple metals and other chemicals; in a more indirect way, it opens up the possibility for a greater understanding of microbiology and evolution itself. As someone who is terrible at biology, it fascinates me as technological progress completely parallel to anything I actively study.

This is interesting indeed, but is it going to actually do what single-celled Carbon lifeforms do, or is it just a metallic impostor? Either way the learning possibilities are near endless with this.

Wow! I knew this could be done with artificially with silicon, but now we can do it tungsten? This IS a really big deal! This also means that we don't necissarily need to search for Earth-like planets to find extraterrestrial life.
Now if only we can create a sapient AI, we can have our own entirely new life-form here on Earth. Oh, wait...that wouldn't be good, would it?

>>20 its mercury not silicon ^^'

>>21 It can be done with silicon too. It's commonly used as a substitute for carbon in chemical reactions because it can make similar chemical bonds with other molicules.

Soo... will I be able to legitimately say Bite my Shiny Metal A** before I die?

yeah

wrong, organic materials MUST contain carbon so that whole organic metal "cell" thing is a bunch of bull you thought of from watching too much terminator

Wow this is very interesting.

>>25 if you would take the time to look this stuff up you would know this is actual science and is all true although it is not actually life yet it shows much potential

>>25 Hasn't there been recent discoveries showing non-carbon based lifeforms. Here is a basic link to a recent discovery that completely rejects the thought of all life must be carbon based.

Link: http://www.asylum.com/2010/12/02/nasa-announcement-aliens-arsenic/

I view this as having the possibility of one day replacing some parts of DNA. DNA is just a storage of data, and mRNA reads that data and helps the cells reproduce and maintain function. Instead of using protiens to store that data, why not something else?

>>28 I've heard about non-carbon lifeforms too. Don't know any specific examples, but I know there are some.

This is amazing.

This is cool. and to those of you saying this should be in the News forums, you are somewhat right, although the is a new technological advance for mankind it is both worthy of the tech forums and the news forums.... HURRAY FOR MANKIND!

The reason why carbon is good bases for life is because of the four valence electrons which connect it to other atoms but there are other elements that have four...like silicon, germanium, tin, lead, and flerovium.

>>32 I believe Carbon has six valence electrons, not four.

I think it has six electrons, including four valence electrons. It has two layers. Two on the first, and four on the second, making it half-full. This allows it to bond with many other elements and create links, chains, ect.

mercury is cool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon-based_life

it says here that it has four