# SpudCells: Have Scientists Built Life From Scratch? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/modem-futura-7035675/spudcells-have-scientists-built-life-from-scratch Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/modem-futura-7035675/spudcells-have-scientists-built-life-from-scratch.md Podcast: [Modem Futura](https://stenobird.com/podcast/modem-futura-7035675) Published: 2026-07-21T08:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.modemfutura.com Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/fca32cee-ef4c-4b50-82e5-4c768318a8c1/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/audio/group/5fd7b0e6-4c44-43ce-998e-1dcdb6ce7a60/group-item/becec498-9025-4428-b69b-db18d714580b/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/modem-futura-7035675/episodes/spudcells-have-scientists-built-life-from-scratch Duration seconds: 1914 ## Resource Sean and Andrew dig into SpudCell — a lab-built synthetic cell that feeds, grows, and divides — and the deceptively simple question it forces: where's the line between something that was built and something that's alive? ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/modem-futura-7035675/episodes/spudcells-have-scientists-built-life-from-scratch/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/modem-futura-7035675/spudcells-have-scientists-built-life-from-scratch.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.