The world’s first living robots, ‘xenobots’, which were created from the stem cell of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis and designed by computers, were first introduced to the world in 2020. At that time, scientists; He reported that these organisms were able to self-heal and survive for weeks without food.
Now, experts from the University of Vermont, Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have discovered that drop-like xenobots have an unusual new reproductive capacity. According to the new discovery, the first living robots can reproduce by copying themselves.
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In a press release, the scientists who developed the organism stated that xenobots were able to create ‘baby’ organisms by bringing hundreds of single cells together in their mouths. “With the right design, they can replicate themselves,” said Josh Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont, who led the research.
Douglas Blackiston, a senior scientist at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute, also believed that humanity has long figured out all possible ways to reproduce and reproduce; however, he noted that this new development is unlike anything seen before. “These cells have the genome of a frog, but when they stop being tadpoles, they use their collective intelligence, a plasticity, to do something surprising.”
The idea of a self-reproducing robot sounds pretty scary when you first hear it; but apparently the scientists who were part of the study are perfectly comfortable with it. Stating that they are working to understand the replication feature, Bongard said, “The world and technologies are changing rapidly. It is important that we examine and understand how this will work for society as a whole. “Ultimately, this is regenerative medicine, if we know how to get cells to do what we want them to do; traumatic injury, birth defects, cancer. Continuing with his statements, Bongard noted that learning this could be possible thanks to xenobots.
