For the first time, researchers have simulated nearly all the chemical reactions in a living bacterial cell. This simulation shows how a cell copies its DNA and divides into two new cells.
The simulation helps scientists understand how proteins, nucleic acids (molecules that store genetic information), fats, and other substances work together in a cell. Zane Thornburg, a scientist at the University of Illinois, co-led the study published on 9 March in Cell.
To create the simulation, Thornburg used a simple bacterial cell called JCVI-Syn3a. This cell has a very small genome of just 493 genes, as scientists removed over 400 non-essential genes.
Thornburg’s model represents the DNA, proteins, and other important molecules in a three-dimensional space. Some molecules obey specific rules from real-world measurements, and reactions happen when they come close together.
The team’s aim was to show how JCVI-Syn3a copies its DNA and divides, which is known as the cell cycle. After some early problems, they let the model run for the US Thanksgiving holiday in November. When they returned, they found that the whole cell cycle had completed.
The simulated cell took 105 minutes to divide, which is very close to the real-life timing. However, running the simulation took six days on a supercomputer, showing how complex this type of model is. Bernhard Palsson, a bioengineer, says this simulation is important because it captures many cellular activities.
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