Couldn't messing around with these artificial cells expose us to the risk of creating some second order mutations in humans from accidentally introducing these cells to our microbiome from the lab akin to the COVID-19 escaping a 'gain of function' virus lab theory?
Maybe that's the beauty of it. Maybe now's exactly the propitious time to play fast and lose with these things. The world today is more prepared than it has ever been - the overall impact may not even register as an independent event and be taken only as another wrinkle to current pandemic.
...but for the record, the above is not an advice. Here's the mandatory and responsible advice: kids, have fun (with science), but wear the things to keep it safe!
It would be extremely unlikely that such an artificial cell could colonize humans in any way, and even more unlikely that such a cell would be pathogenic.
Look at the proportion of natural cells that can colonize humans versus those that can't. Similarly, look at the proportion of pathogenic organisms versus non-pathogenic organisms. Assuming the goal wasn't to produce a pathogen, I find it unlikely we'd produce one accidentally.
