DNA Crown Cells: Synthesis and Self-Replication

It has been half a century since the first studies on cell biology. During this time, it was shown that cells consist of a membrane made of lipid-polymer complexes comprising proteins and carbohydrates complexed with lipids. Further studies on cell biology have been based according to this understanding of the structure of the cell membrane. No reports of a cell membrane associated with DNA have been reported. I have been studying the preparation of artificial cells and have demonstrated the formation of cells (named DNA crown cells) containing a membrane comprising lipid-DNA. I have prepared DNA crown cells using a known lipid (monolaurin) in vitro and examined whether these cells self-replicate in vivo. Here, I discuss these successful procedures. First, aggregates of sphingosine-DNA were prepared by the addition of adenosine-monolaurin to sphingosine-DNA. Next, DNA crown cells were constructed by the addition of monolaurin to the sphingosine-DNA aggregates in vitro. Finally, I demonstrated that these cells can self-replicate upon incubation in egg-white