Photo: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
For: The Opinion
Saturday, November 30
Xenobots: scientists invent the first self-reproducing robots
University of Vermont Researchers have allowed new life forms called “Xenobots” to self-replicate .
Since the dawn of time, any self or sexual reproduction on Earth has consisted of progeny growing within or on the body of the organism.
However, researchers led by the University of Vermont have orchestrated the first self-replication performed by a living robot, and it’s something the science world has never seen before.
“People have thought for quite some time that we have discovered all the ways that life can reproduce or replicate itself. But this is something that has never been observed before, ”co-author Douglas Blackiston, a senior scientist at Tufts University, told The Sun.
The team of scientists initially created the Xenobots , which are the first robots alive, in 2020.
Robots were designed on a supercomputer using artificial intelligence (AI) and designed in real life using embryonic stem cells from a frog.
Now , the same team has discovered that this hybrid organism can swim into its Petri dish, find individual cells, collect hundreds of them and form “baby” Xenobots. inside his mouth, which is shaped like a Pac-man.
“This is profound. These cells have the genome of a frog, but freed from turning into tadpoles, they use their collective intelligence and plasticity to do something amazing, ”said Michael Levin, Ph.D., professor of biology at Tufts University and co-leader. of the new research, he added.
The researchers said that, without the help of AI, they may not have been able to make this groundbreaking discovery, as Xenobot’s father alone can only have children for so long before his system shuts down.
However, using artificial intelligence, the correct design could be found to allow cells to be more effective in “kinematic” replication, a type of molecular replication that had never been observed before with whole cells.
The discovery has proven to be monumental in the field of biology and holds great promise for regenerative medicine.
“If we knew how to tell collections of cells to do what we want them to do, ultimately, that is regenerative medicine, that is the solution for traumatic injuries, birth defects, cancer and aging Levin said.
“All these different problems are here, because we don’t know how to predict and control which groups of cells are going to form. The Xenobots are a new platform to teach us, “he added.