“European scientists have started work on a project to create simple forms of life from scratch in the lab, capitalising on theoretical and experimental advances in the fast-growing field of synthetic biology.

Starting with inanimate chemicals, the researchers aim to produce metabolically active cells that grow, divide and show ‘Darwinian evolution’ within six years.

The €13mn ‘MiniLife’ project, which is funded by the European Research Council and involves biologists and chemists from several universities, could be the first in the world to reach the minimum criteria for a synthetic living system.”

From Financial Times.