Xenobots: Living, Programmable Robots That Reproduce?

In 2020, a team of researchers announced that they had taken stem cells from the embryos of African frogs (Xenopus laevis) and cut and rejoined them together in a new way. This new configuration was designed by the Deep Green supercomputer cluster at UVM's Vermont Advanced Computing Core.

The result was a new body form never seen in nature. The team called their programmable organisms “Xenobots” and refered to them as "living, programmable robots."

In a paper outlining their work, the team described the experiment's success, noting that "the cells began to work together. The skin cells formed a more passive architecture, while the once-random contractions of heart muscle cells were put to work creating ordered forward motion as guided by the computer's design and aided by spontaneous self-organizing patterns, allowing the robots to move on their own."

It seems these little cells have also figured out how to leverage their collective intelligence and adaptability to chart a new course for themselves.

Life finds a way

In a paper published shortly after the initial work, the team announced that the Xenobot “parents” wandered in their environment, gathering loose stem cells with their “mouths.” These clumps grow bigger and bigger until the “offspring” began to look just like their parents. 

But here’s the catch: After the parents finally spawned offspring, the system would die out. The offspring couldn't reproduce.

To save the little, living robots from dying out, the researchers decided to adjust the shape of the initial parents.

A supercomputer ran simulations for months, and it developed some attractive new designs, one resembling a Pac-Man. Something extraordinary happened when scientists assembled the frog cells into the Pac-Man-shaped Xenobots. The Pac-Man parent Xenobots built children, who built grandchildren, who built great-grandchildren, who built great-great-grandchildren.

And just like that, they had a whole family tree. 

Now, depending on how easily you scare, you might find the idea of living, replicating robots terrifying. But try not to worry about robotic overlords just yet. The ultimate goal for the scientists involved in the study is piecing together a deeper understanding of how self-replication works. If we understand and map this process, we can ultimately control it, direct it, douse it, and exaggerate it. And the knowledge we gain in the process could transform the field of regenerative medicine — allowing us to deliver targeted medicine and rewrite cells in new ways. This could help us find solutions to mitigate the effects of traumatic injury, cancer, aging, and congenital disabilities. 

Ready to dive deeper into the world of Xenobots? Watch this video for a close-up look.