Xenobots—a new classification of robots built from biological cells—evolved from theory to reality in only a few short years. Not long after first proposing the concept, researchers successfully harvested material from frog embryos to create their first multicellular biobots in 2020. From the outset, their xenobots could move, record data, collect materials, heal themselves, and even replicate for a few generations before naturally decomposing.
[Related: Meet xenobots, tiny machines made out of living parts.]
Unlike the typical image of a robot built with electronics and other metal components, bioorganic robots often combine genetically altered or guided cells into a form that does not naturally occur within their source bodies. At first, the team didn’t know if they would be able to adapt their methods for any species other than their amphibian-derived xenobots. The answer to their question is already here: researchers have now advanced to “anthrobots”—biological machines derived from human tracheal cells.
As detailed in a new study published Thursday in Advanced Science, anthrobots not only can be constructed from adult human cells without the need for any genetic modification, but they are already proving more medically promising than their xenobot forebears.
“We wanted to probe what cells can do besides create default features in the body,” PhD candidate and study co-author Gizem Gumuskaya explained in a November 30 announcement. “By reprogramming interactions between cells, new multicellular structures can be created, analogous to the way stone and brick can be arranged into different structural elements like walls, archways, or columns.”
[Related: Robots built from frog cells have unlocked the ability to self-replicate.]
According to the November 30 announcement, shaping xenobots required the laborious use of tweezers and scalpels. Anthrobots,…
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