The First Living Robot Is Born — 'Alien' Isn't a Movie Anymore
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The world's firstLiving robots made from cells, has been born.
It’s not a fantasy, it’s not science fiction, it’s real scientific research that has been published in top journals.
And it is not made of metal or plastic, but is recombined with frog epidermal cells and heart cells.
This is the latest amazing research published in the top journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS), from a team at the University of Vermont and Tufts University in the United States.
The corresponding author of the paper, Joshua Banga(Joshua Bongard)explain:
They are neither traditional robots nor known species of animals. This is aliving, programmable organisms.
Co-author Michael Levine(Michael Levin)Also means:
This isbrand new life form. They have never been seen on Earth.
These robots are namedXenobots.
Researchers believe that its ability to operate in aqueous media shows unlimited possibilities in the future: cleaning up microplastic pollution in the ocean, serving as a biodegradable drug delivery robot, and more.
But when it was shown to the public, it immediately caused panic among many people.
Yes, there are sci-fi movies like "Alien" and "Alien Awakening". Netizens said one after another: It scared me to death.
Foreign media "Wired" used four words to describe it:Creepy.
Living robot, what on earth is going on?
Xenobots: the first living robots
This name isXenobotThe "alien robot", less than 1 mm long, is an African clawed frogHeart cells (contract cells)andEpidermal cells (passive cells)combination.
The basis for the combination is a model designed by Deep Green, a supercomputer cluster at the University of Vermont.
The researchers calculated an evolutionary algorithm on the cluster, which has the computing power of 20,000 laptops.
During repeated trials, model designs with poor performance are eliminated in a manner similar to natural selection.
The code has been open source, the address is at the end of the article
Both cells were obtained by researchers from clawed frogsembryonic stem cellsObtained from medium differentiation.
The researchers first cut open the embryonic cells.
The two parts of the cells were cut and cultured separately.
Then both will be slowly rebuilt.
Finally, according to the design simulated by the supercomputer, the reshaped cells are "sculpted" with tweezers and electrodes.
The reshaped cells come in different shapes, some wedge-shaped and some arch-shaped.
In the picture below, the green part at the top ispassive cells, and the alternating red and green parts at the bottom areactive cells.
△Green are epidermal cells, red are heart cells
Xenobot is able to move through aqueous media through contractions generated by heart cells.
△Adjusted to 8x speed
Not only can it travel in a straight line, it can also turn in circles.
Unlike robots made of metal and plastic, Xenobot is completely biodegradable.
Moreover, it also has self-healing capabilities.
Joshua Bongard, corresponding author of the paper, introduced:
We cut the robot in half, and not only did it sew itself back together, but it continued to move.
Interestingly, if you flip the robot over, it turns over like a turtle on its back and loses its ability to move.
Computer + biology, cross-border cooperation
The research was led by the team of Joshua Bonga, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont.
The first author of the paper is Sam Kriegman. A doctoral candidate at the University of Vermont, dedicated to the research of evolutionary robots.
△Sam Kriegman
The corresponding author, Professor Joshua Banga, graduated from the University of Zurich with a Ph.D. and is now a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont and the head of the Morphological Evolution and Cognition Laboratory. His research focuses on evolutionary robotics, evolutionary computation and physical simulation.
△Josh Bongard
The work of assembling the robot was mainly completed by the team of Michael Levine, a professor in the Department of Biology at Tufts University.
△Michael Levin
Alien awakening?
Researchers believe that Xenobot's characteristics demonstrate its unlimited possibilities in the future. They can be used to clean up microplastic pollution in the ocean, locate and digest toxic substances, or enter human blood vessels to accurately deliver drugs, remove plaque from artery walls, and more.
But perhaps, such an "alien" robot will remind you of the science fiction movie "Alien Awakening": a single cell can destroy the world.
Some netizens have expressed that they were frightened:
Sam Kriegman, the first author of the paper, admits that this research raises new ethical issues: future variants of such robots may have neurological and cognitive abilities.
I think it's important that this research is public so that society can discuss it and policymakers can work out the best course of action.
Another author of the paper, Michael Levin, a professor at Tufts University, also pointed out that this fear is not unreasonable. But he believes their work is helping people better understand such systems.
This research is a direct contribution to exactly what people are worried about.
What do you think?
portal
Paper address:
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/07/1910837117
Github project:
https://github.com/skriegman/reconfigurable_organisms
Reference links:
https://www.wired.com/story/xenobot/
https://www.inverse.com/article/62220-scientists-create-living-machine
https://www.cnet.com/news/tiny-living-robots-made-from-frog-cells-could-soon-swim-inside-your-body/#ftag=CADf328eec
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/13/scientists-use-stem-cells-from-frogs-to-build-first-living-robots?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1578950205
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