Alan Turing published in 1952 one of the most important ideas of the 20th century - a mathematical model of the chemical processes underlying cell differentiation. But it would take 60 years to be confirmed. Today Turing's idea has become an important starting point for thinking about systems that build themselves from a basic set of parts. Instead of having to form and assemble them using conventional top-down manufacturing, could we build synthetic systems from the bottom up from a cocktail of chemicals that mimic muscles or grow organs and build entirely new manufacturing processes?