Life is a self-sustaining system that continuously proliferates by synthesizing membrane molecules from external raw materials, thereby enabling vesicle growth and division. Such living systems exist in a state markedly distinct from conventional physical systems, and elucidating the fundamental differences between living and non-living matter is a critical step toward understanding the essence of living systems. However, contemporary living systems are highly complex, making it extremely challenging to directly analyze the distinctions between life and matter
using current organisms. To overcome this, we have constructed a model system—a minimal cell—that captures the essential features of life. Our synthetic minimal cell is a vesicle-based system that integrates the following three functional modules [1,2,3]:

1. Artificial metabolic system – synthesizes energy molecules from external raw materials.
2. Information processing system – uses the synthesized energy molecules to produce genetic polymers that encode the vesicle’s composition.
3. Self-reproduction system – drives vesicle growth and division by incorporating membrane molecules through the genetic polymers.

 Furthermore, by varying the types of membrane molecules and genetic polymers, we have constructed eight disinct minimal cell types. By comparing their growth rates (fitness), we are developing a system in which the dynamics of evolution due to competition among minimal cells can emerge.
In this seminar, we will introduce our synthetic minimal cell research and examine the conditions required for sustained proliferation and evolution from the perspective of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and information thermodynamics, This approach aims to shed light on the physical origin of the fundamental distinction between life and non-life.

1. M. Kurisu, et al., Commun. Chem. 2019, 2, 117.
2. M. Kurisu, et al., Commun. Chem. 2023, 6, 56.
3. M. Imai, et al., Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 4823.