Devising synthetic cell division

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of synthetic biology bring synthetic living cells on step closer. The ability to reproduce through division is a crucial element towards this end. Different steps of cell division have been reconstituted in vitro using bacterial, eukaryotic and synthetic approaches. The next step is to integrate them in one system capable of division. In this review, I discuss the different strategies to recreate the steps of division, their strengths and shortcomings and finally, how they could be combined to recreate division in a synthetic cell.