Scientists at the University of Minnesota have created a synthetic cell that can feed, grow and replicate in a manner similar to natural cells. In their scientific paper published on Wednesday, synthetic biologist Kate Adamala and her colleagues claim it’s the most life-like artificially created cell yet. The study has yet to undergo peer review.

• However, the synthetic cell isn’t nearly as advanced as the simplest cell in the human body and can only function in a highly controlled environment.
• It isn’t “life created in the lab,” but it is a “genuine milestone on the road to toward that question,” said Yuval Elani, an associate professor in biochemical technologies at Imperial College London.

“The creation is a limited and fragile prototype,” cnn wrote, “but it could help scientists better understand the origins of life and could potentially be programmed to help mitigate some of the world’s biggest biological problems.”

The experiment should teach mankind that “the origins of life” was not a random act of chance in the universe but required a designer of intelligence far superior to humans.

The marvel of the cell: “The human body has 37 trillion cells, more than the number of stars in the sky, and scientists still don’t know how every different cell type works or what exactly they contain,” cnn wrote.

Mankind seeks to recreate this marvel and thus unlock life itself. But as we wrote in “Superfluous Splendor”:

[T]he sophistication within every cell points not to blind chance but to transcendent intelligence beyond space and time. … Even the simplest living cell brims with vast quantities of functionally specified, complex information. Nucleotide sequences function like sophisticated software, directing the assembly of intricate molecular machines—tiny motors, pumps and factories working with awe-inspiring precision.

The more sophisticated our understanding of the sophisticated cell becomes, the deeper should be our appreciation for its Designer and Creator.