Here’a a thought, why not add the genes necessary for photosynthesis into a fertilised egg of some animal, then we could have animals that do not need to eat, or at least do not need to eat as much, thereby making the process of rearing livestock much more efficient. we could even go some way towards finding a remedy for world hunger by adding it to humans!

Actually making a cell completely from scratch needs to be done further down the line. Micelles may be a start, and I’d’ve thought we can replicate the cytoplasm mixture without too much difficulty, but making your own answer to enzymes could be difficult – but the synthetic cell just needs to produce enough energy to keep the reaction going to be about as alive as a flame (we are about that much alive, because that’s all we are chemically)

A very cool use indeed!

The scientists want to create new kinds of bacterium to make new types of bugs which can be used as green fuels to replace oil and coal, digest toxic waste or absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.