Synthetic cells spark intriguing questions about the nature of life. Projects such as BaSyC (Building a Synthetic Cell) aim to build an entity that mimics how living cells work. But what kind of entity would a synthetic cell really be? I assess this question from a philosophical perspective, and show how early fictional narratives of artificial life - such as the laboratory scene in Goethe's Faust - can help us to understand the challenges faced by synthetic biology researchers.
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| doi.org/10.7554/eLife.46518, hdl.handle.net/1765/116412 | |
| eLife | |
| Organisation | Erasmus School of Philosophy |
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Zwart, H. (2019). From primal scenes to synthetic cells. eLife, 8. doi:10.7554/eLife.46518 |
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