This review provides a summary of the advances that led to the development of artificial life, its current research topics, and open problems and opportunities.

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA. The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA.

Synthesis of artificial cells, simulation of large-scale biological networks, intelligent use of exponentially growing amounts of biochemical data, exploitation of biological substrates for computation and control, and deployment of bio-inspired engineering are just some of the main issues of ALife and nowadays are cutting-edge topics.