DATE2026.11.12 #Press Releases

Researchers Successfully Create "Planimal Cells," Hybrid Animal-Plant Cells

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

— The Birth of a Cell That Transcends the Boundaries Between Animals and Plants —

Summary

Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at the University of Tokyo; Professor Hiroshi Kimura of the Center for Cellular Control Engineering at the Institute of Comprehensive Research, Tokyo University of Science; Associate Professor Hidenori Nishihara of the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University; Associate Professor Takuya Sakamoto of the Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University; Associate Professor Yuko Sato of the Department of Applied Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University;and Professor Tomokatsu Ikawa of the Institute of Medical Science at Tokyo University of Science, have succeeded in creating “Planimal cells”—hybrid animal-plant cells—by transplanting the entire DNA of algae into cultured animal cells and stably maintaining that DNA within the animal cells.

In this study, high-precision DNA sequencing was used to analyze the entire DNA of the Planimal cells—which were created by fusing algal and animal cultured cells—revealing that the algal DNA was integrated into the animal chromosomes.Furthermore, the Planimal cells divided normally for more than 150 generations, and the incorporated algal DNA was stably maintained within the Planimal cells (Figure 1). This is the first report worldwide of the creation of a plant-animal hybrid cell that maintains the entire genomes of algal and animal species—which are evolutionarily distant—within a single cell.

The research group has been working on the development of “planimal” cells, which introduce genetic information derived from plants and other organisms into animal cells, thereby incorporating plant-specific mechanisms—such as photosynthesis and the production of useful substances—into animal cells. These findings demonstrate the potential to create new cells incorporating large amounts of DNA derived from different organisms using synthetic biology techniques.

In the future, it is expected that technologies will be developed to introduce into animal cells gene clusters involved in oxygen-producing photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and the production of useful substances. If such technologies are realized, they could lead to reduced cell culture costs, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and expanded methods for supplying useful substances.

The findings of this study were published online in the international scientific journal *Nature Communications* on November 12, 2026.

Associate Professor Yamato Yoshida of the Department of Biological Sciences participated in this research.

Figure 1: Chromosomes of Planimaru cells
Animal chromosomes (blue), animal repetitive sequences (pink), and algal DNA (yellow-green). Animal repetitive sequences are used as a control to demonstrate that the DNA detection method is working properly.

Links

Graduate School of Frontier Sciences

Journals