Novel living machines that can self-heal and record patient’s memories
Xenobots are tiny synthetic lifeforms derived from stem cells harvested from early frog embryos designed by computers to perform the desired function and built by combining different biological tissues. Whether xenobots are robots, organisms, or something else entirely remains a subject of debate among scientists. They are designed to walk, swim, push pellets, carry payloads, work together in a swarm, and have an enormous scope in various interdepartmental applications.
What are Xenobots?
Xenobots are less than 1 millimeter wide and are composed of skin cells and heart muscle cells, which are derived from the stem cells harvested from frog embryos. The skin cells provide a rigid support, and the heart cells act as small motors, contracting and expanding in volume to move the xenobot forward. The shape of a xenobot’s body, and the distribution of skin and heart cells, are automatically designed in simulation to perform a specific task, using the process of trial and error.
Version 2.0 of xenobots has been developed by Tufts University, which is faster, live longer, and record information about their surroundings.
Abilities of xenobots
Xenobots can be designed to walk, swim, push pellets, carry payloads, and work together collectively to aggregate debris scattered along the surface of their dish into neat piles. They can survive without food for a long time and heal themselves after lacerations.
Other kinds of motors and sensors have also been incorporated into xenobots. Instead of the heart muscle, xenobots can grow patches of cilia and use them as tiny oars for swimming. But cilia-driven locomotion is less controllable than cardiac-driven locomotion. Molecular memory can be given to xenobots with the introduction of an RNA molecule. If exposed to a specific kind of light during behavior, they will glow a prespecified color when viewed under a fluorescent microscope.
Applications and scope of xenobots
At present, xenobots are primarily used as a scientific tool to understand how cells cooperate to build complex bodies during morphogenesis. However, the behavior and compatibility of the current xenobots suggest various potential applications to which they may be put in the future.
Since xenobots are composed solely of frog cells, they are biodegradable. It has been predicted that future xenobots might be able to push microplastics in the ocean into central piles: find and aggregate tiny bits of plastic into a giant ball of plastic that an average boat or drone can gather and bring to a recycling center. Unlike conventional technologies, xenobots do not cause pollution as they work and degrade: they use energy from fat and protein naturally stored in their tissue, which lasts for about a week. At this point, they turn into dead skin cells.
For future clinical applications, such as targeted drug delivery, xenobots could be made from a human patient’s cells, which will bypass the immune response challenges of other kinds of micro-robotic delivery systems. Such xenobots could be used to scrape plaque from arteries, and with additional cell types and bioengineering, locate and treat disease.
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