Scientists are now able to turn stem cells into robots for the first time ever. The stem cells used are configured by algorithms and assembled into robots. In their natural form and processes, the cells which would have turned into skin and heart tissues are turned into robots called xenobots.
These robots created from stem cells are tiny submillimetre sized blobs that contained between 500 to 1000 cells distributed across a petri dish. The cells can self organize and even able to transport minute payloads.
Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist, and roboticist from the University of Vermont described these robots are novel living machines. He continued by saying,
They’re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It’s a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism.
Using stem cells to create robots
The study involved using stem cells harvested from embryonic African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). These cells were then designed using supercomputers and algorithms, which was able to put them together virtually by utilizing the heart and skill cells.
The results were simulated to assign desired outcomes, which produced thousands of configurations. The least successful configurations were ignored while the most successful configurations were designed and developed into robots.
The scientists were then able to assemble the cells according to configurations from the computer simulations. They found that they were able to produce exactly the same results they had simulated.
These machines were able to work in an aqueous environment. They were able to carry minute payloads and move them to one corner and able to coordinate with each while carrying out this task.
The cells are, however not able to evolve on their own because they do not have a reproductive system. They also run on the energy they had acquired when they were attached to a living organism.
When this energy runs out, the cells died out and the xenobots became just a lump of dead cells. The study was published in PNAS, and the algorithm used was placed in Github and free access to the code granted.
Scientists were, however optimistic about what this new technology means for future applications. Scientists speculated that the robots could, in the future, be used in medicine to target cancer cells with drugs or incorporated in nervous system cells.
Featured image by Pixabay
