A new weapon against superbugs? Artificial cell that TRICKS living organisms into thinking it's one of them could stop the spread of bacteria

Scientists have built artificial cells that can communicate with real cells
The cells mimic natural cells and trick them into thinking they are no different
In the future they could be used to fight harmful bacteria that cause infections
This includes the bacteria that cause salmonella and meningitis

Published: 13:43 EST, 30 January 2017 | Updated: 13:44 EST, 30 January 2017

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An artificial cell has been created which is so life-like it can communicate chemically with living cells.

These man-made cells mimic natural cells and trick them into thinking they are no different from each other.

The researchers who designed the cells hope that they could be used to attack disease-causing bacteria in the future.

Scientists have built artificial cells that are so life-like they have tricked artificial cells into thinking they're one of their own. These smart cells were able to have two-way conversations with living bacterial cells (stock image)

WHAT COULD ARTIFICIAL CELLS BE USED FOR?

Scientists might be able to use artificial bacteria to fight disease-causing bacteria in the future.

This includes salmonella, which can cause food poisoning, and Neisseria meningitidis, which can cause meningitis.

'We also found that artificial cells can interfere with the signaling of pathogenic bacteria,' Dr Mansy said.

'If developed further, such artificial cells could be used to disrupt biofilms and thus help to clear infections', he said.

Biofilms are adhesive colonies of harmful bacteria which are responsible for more than 80 per cent of all microbial infections in the body.

If scientists could use artificial cells to neutralise biofilms they could significantly reduce microbial infections in the body.

Researchers from the University of Trento, Italy, created the artificial cells which have even passed the Turing test - a test to evaluate whether a machine could behave intelligently.

The basis of the Turing test is if a machine can trick a person into believing it is another person it must display some level of intelligence to pull off this deception.

To make the artificial cells, scientists built tiny cell-like structures packed with their own DNA instructions.

The artificial cells showed they were listening to the natural bacterial cells by glowing.

And the bacterial cells responded by releasing chemical signals themselves.

'[It] is absolutely possible to make artificial cells that can chemically communicate with bacteria', Sheref S. Mansy, one of the team from the University of Trento, Italy told ResearchGate.

'We have been interested in the divide between living and nonliving chemical systems for quite some time now, but it was never really clear where this divide fell.

'Artificial cells can sense the molecules that are naturally secreted from bacteria and in response synthesize and release chemical signals back to the bacteria.'

These artificial cells were able to produce specific proteins in response to outside stimuli and engage in two-way chemical communication with the bacteria.

Not only were the artificial cells detecting the presence of living bacteria but living bacteria were able to send their own signals back.

The researchers hope that the artificial bacteria could be used to fight disease-causing bacteria in the future.

The scientists hope that artificial bacteria could be used in the future to fight disease-causing bacteria, such as Salmonella typhimurium

This includes salmonella, which can cause food poisoning, and Neisseria meningitidis, which can cause meningitis.

'We also found that artificial cells can interfere with the signaling of pathogenic bacteria,' Dr Mansy said.

'If developed further, such artificial cells could be used to disrupt biofilms and thus help to clear infections', he said.

Biofilms are adhesive colonies of harmful bacteria which are responsible for more than 80 per cent of all microbial infections in the body.

If scientists could use artificial cells to neutralise biofilms they could significantly reduce microbial infections.

THE TURING TEST

The Turing Test was introduced by Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing in 1950 as part of his paper Computing Machinery And Intelligence in which he predicted that computers would one day be programmed to acquire abilities rivalling human intelligence.

He proposed a test called The Imitation Game, which would identify whether a computer is capable of thought.

The basis of the Turing test is if a machine can trick a person into believing it is another person it must display some level of intelligence to pull off this deception.

He said that if a machine is indistinguishable from a human, it is ‘thinking’.

A person, called the interrogator, engages in a text based conversation with another person and a computer - and must determine which is which. If they are unable to do so the computer is deemed to have passed.