In doing … While scientists are tinkering with creating life, when they do so they're still using things that already exist. by Tom Chivers However, it was created from chemicals and a cell. Scientists in Europe have created a “living embryo” in a laboratory using stem cells rather than egg or sperm cells in a controversial experiment that they say will create an “unlimited stock for medical research.”. As an example, a creature called a Synthia was created in a lab. No, there's no way to create life from scratch. Scientists Have Created Synthetic Life From Scratch Creators say that the human-designed "minimal genome" bacterium is the "start of a new era" of synthetic biology. The United Kingdom’s Express newspaper quotes Maastricht University professor Nicholas Rivron, who said: “As you know, embryos are very precious, and it is impossible to use to test drugs … Two researchers created a bacterium that not only uses the four natural bases, but also uses a pair of synthetic ones known as X and Y. SCIENTISTS have created a living embryo in a laboratory without using either egg or sperm in ground-breaking but hugely controversial experiments. It doesn't get more science fictional (or pseudo-scientific) than creating life out of thin air, right?