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Robots that create offshoots of themselves could be a future tool for science and medicine.
In nature most organisms reproduce by either mating and producing offspring, or creating clones of themselves. But a new mode of propagation is on the scene—new living robots can self-replicate by clustering cells and creating offshoots of themselves.
Let’s break down what that actually means. These robots are called xenobots—they’re synthetic lifeforms made from clusters of stem cells scraped from African clawed frog embryos. Using artificial intelligence, a team of engineers and computer scientists from the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and Harvard University tested out different body shapes for their living robots. They discovered that a Pac-Man-like C-shape made the little cell clumps the most efficient at self-replicating.
When the researchers say the bots can self-replicate, it doesn’t mean they actually reproduce. What they mean is, in that C-shape formation, the cluster can propel itself around a petri dish with the help of hair-like cilia, which sit on the outside of each cell. As it moves, the cluster gathers up other stray cells and bundles them until they form their own xenobot. But this process doesn’t go on forever. The cells were only able to do this for a few generations of xenobots.
“Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics, but it’s not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people,” Josh Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, told CNN. “In that way it’s a robot but it’s also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cell.”
www.popsci.com
In nature most organisms reproduce by either mating and producing offspring, or creating clones of themselves. But a new mode of propagation is on the scene—new living robots can self-replicate by clustering cells and creating offshoots of themselves.
Let’s break down what that actually means. These robots are called xenobots—they’re synthetic lifeforms made from clusters of stem cells scraped from African clawed frog embryos. Using artificial intelligence, a team of engineers and computer scientists from the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and Harvard University tested out different body shapes for their living robots. They discovered that a Pac-Man-like C-shape made the little cell clumps the most efficient at self-replicating.
When the researchers say the bots can self-replicate, it doesn’t mean they actually reproduce. What they mean is, in that C-shape formation, the cluster can propel itself around a petri dish with the help of hair-like cilia, which sit on the outside of each cell. As it moves, the cluster gathers up other stray cells and bundles them until they form their own xenobot. But this process doesn’t go on forever. The cells were only able to do this for a few generations of xenobots.
“Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics, but it’s not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people,” Josh Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, told CNN. “In that way it’s a robot but it’s also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cell.”
Robots built from frog cells have unlocked the ability to self-replicate
Robots such as these, capable of making offshoots of themselves, could be a future tool for science and medicine.
www.popsci.com
