Remember the famous movie The Prestige (2006), whose plot involved a cloning machine that duplicated living organisms, and the movie The Island (2005), where a facility existed for cloning naïve humans to provide organs and perfect bodies for the wealthy. All this sounds too far-fetched and pure science fiction for now. Not anymore. Through stupendous advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), scientists and researchers are working to create the world’s first virtual cell.

A virtual cell is nothing but a super-detailed, computer-generated version of a real living cell. As and when virtual cells get created, they will have a huge impact on reducing many existing ethical dilemmas, accelerating personalized medicine, revolutionizing drug testing, and paving the way for future breakthroughs.

We all know that cells are biological in nature, and so far, there is no way to create a cell through non-biological means. It seems that all this is going to change very fast. It has been prophesied that when a cell becomes programmable, so will the entire field of biology. It would be akin to simulating life down to a molecular scale. It all sounds pretty unrealistic right now, but the frantic pace of developments taking place is likely to make this a reality in the next couple of years.

Its implications would be profound and far-reaching. Virtual cells have tremendous potential to act like digital twins of real cells. It would become so much easier for scientists to conduct experiments and test ideas on a virtual cell rather than on a real cell.

There is another very interesting aspect to it that most people are not talking about: cloning. Cells are the building blocks of life. So, through virtual cells, before cloning a real organism or growing tissues, scientists could use virtual cells to simulate the process. This is like using a flight simulator to practice flying without risking a plane. This would drastically reduce trial and error in the lab, saving time, money, and animals.

Also, cloning often fails today because of unpredictable cell behaviour. Virtual cells could help optimize this process by identifying the best conditions to nurture a clone. Similarly, the ethical concerns relating to cloning would be alleviated to a large extent, since simulating virtual cells involves no real-world risks.

Thus, as the dream of virtual cells edges closer to reality, the possibilities seem boundless. We will soon usher in an era where simulating life at the atomic level becomes routine. I just hope that the future does not turn out to be dystopian like the movie Ex Machina (2014) and Blade Runner (1982). 😀

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