From 2007.igem.org

Under construction

The idea is to make bacterial multicellular organism. This simple organism will have two distinct types of cells. The first one would be the germline, the other one the soma. The germline will be auxotroph for a given nutriment, which will be provided by the soma. The soma will differentiate from the germline and will be unable to divide. In this way, there is a need for a part of the germline to differentiate into soma in order to feed the rest of the germline. Hence, the soma doesn't exist without a germline to generate it.

How can we define an organism ?

There is no universally admitted definition of an organism. Wikipedia gives: "an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living complex adaptive system of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function in some way as a stable whole."

For us, the organs will simply be different kinds of cells. The definition we retain is that of a multicellular entity with different types of cells fulfilling different complementary tasks.