A Chinese-led scientific collaboration has unveiled Asia’s first 10-year roadmap for synthetic cell research, laying out an ambitious plan to build artificial life from scratch. Published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the initiative brings together more than 100 laboratories from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand under the SynCell Asia Initiative.

Led by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the project aims to create synthetic single-cell organisms using biological components such as proteins, DNA and phospholipids, rather than modifying existing life forms.

The roadmap outlines major scientific goals, including sustaining continuous metabolism and enabling cells to regenerate their own protein-making machinery. Researchers also plan to develop an AI-powered “bio-foundry” network linking laboratories across Asia.

Over the next decade, scientists hope to progress from simple proto-cells to self-replicating synthetic cells capable of repeated growth and division cycles.