The development of artificial intelligence and the creation of the latest robotic systems easily penetrate our lives. The developing medicine will soon find it difficult to do without robotic technology, since some operations are already performed with the help of robots, and the use of robotic prostheses helps people with disabilities to live a full life. In addition to medical use, robots have long been used in space exploration, in manufacturing and in everyday life, as well as for many types of entertainment. But if earlier robots were a “cocktail” of microcircuits and cans, today scientists have managed to create the first robots from living cells.
"Living" robots
Scientists have been able to create the world's first robots that are entirely composed of living cells, according to an article published on sciencealert.com. The so-called xenobots are tiny balls that contain from 500 to 1000 cells, while they can even move around the Petri dish, self-organize and transport the smallest payloads. According to scientists, xenobots are unlike any living organism or organ with which we are familiar today.
Experts note that the latest living machines have many possibilities for their implementation and purpose, ranging from targeted drug delivery to the restoration of the environment. Xenobots cannot yet be accurately classified, since they cannot be fully attributed to either traditional robots or known species of living organisms. Scientists believe that a new classification is needed, in which there will be a special class called “living, programmable organism”.
Hundreds of frog heart and skin cells were used to create a * living * robot.
When implementing an unusual experiment, scientists used a supercomputer and a special algorithm with which they could collect several hundred combinations of frog heart and skin cells.
Based on the best cell combinations, the scientists put together a "living robot" like a construction set. With the help of skin cells, which were used as connective tissue and frog heart cells, which performed their main ability - muscle contraction during the experiment - the xenobots could move. Living robots could move in the aquatic environment for a week without the need for additional nutrients, in addition to those already in the cells in the form of lipids and proteins.
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Living robots have many advantages and capabilities than their predecessors.
Xenobots are completely biodegradable. When xenobots run out of nutrients, they turn into a clump of dead cells, which in turn gives advantages over metal and plastic robots.
Despite the enormous potential of xenobots, scientists are cautiously continuing to study their interaction with the nervous system, since there is a risk of xenobots turning into biological weapons. At the same time, experts note that xenobots are capable of large-scale use of them in various fields: to work with radioactive contamination and other chemical compounds dangerous to humans, when using them to collect microplastics in the oceans, as well as to travel through human arteries, which will help in the treatment of certain diseases.
Author: Daria Eletskaya
