# World’s First Living Robots Can Now Reproduce: TF Word 1. [TF Word](https://www.ticketfairy.com/es/word.md) 2. [Arts & Culture](https://www.ticketfairy.com/es/word/category/arts-culture.md) 3. World’s First Living Robots Can Now Reproduce - [Arts & Culture](https://www.ticketfairy.com/es/word/category/arts-culture.md) # World’s First Living Robots Can Now Reproduce A group of scientists from the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced the discovery of the world’s first living robot… [Lavanya Thankappan](https://www.ticketfairy.com/es/word/author/lavanyakkt.md) 14 enero 2022 · 3 min de lectura A group of scientists from the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced the discovery of the world’s first living robot called Xenebots in 2020. Now, a year later, these AI-designed bots have biologically reproduced – ‘promising for regenerative medicine’  [according](https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/team-builds-first-living-robots-that-can-reproduce/)  to the scientists. #### What are Xenebots –  ** The ** World’s First Living Robots? The xenebots are formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), its namesake. They extracted the cells from the frog embryo and developed it into a simple programmable organism in a petri dish. “The cells aren’t genetically modified at all, but simply combined in different arrangements to produce the xenobots,”  [said](https://www.npr.org/2021/12/01/1060027395/robots-xenobots-living-self-replicating-copy)  a senior scientist of the study. [Xenobots: Building the First-Ever Self-Replicating Living Robots](https://www.youtube.com/embed/aBYtBXaxsOw?feature=oembed) Although termed a ‘robot’, they do not resemble the typical robot with ‘shiny gears or robotic arms’. “They’re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It’s a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism,” one of the lead researchers, Joshua Bongard,  [remarked](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/13/us/living-robot-stem-cells-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html)  in a news release. These bots have a tiny hair-like structure on them called cilia, which helps them to move as well as clump other cells onto them in their natural habitat. This led the scientists to wonder whether they would enforce the same clumping method when introduced with loose cells. Turns out, they do! ##### You May Also Like: [Scientist Trains Rats To Play Doom II, Plans Twitch Streaming](https://www.ticketfairy.com/word/2022/01/06/scientist-train-rats-to-play-doom-ii-plans-twitch-streaming) ## Reproduction and offsprings The spheroid shape of the xenebots failed to clump the desired amount of loose cells. Scientists then intervened to alter the shape using artificial intelligence, which suggested a C-shape – somewhat resembling a Pac-man. “We asked the supercomputer to figure out how to adjust the shape of the initial parents, and the AI came up with some strange designs after months of chugging away, including one that resembled Pac-Man,”  [says](https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/team-builds-first-living-robots-that-can-reproduce/)  Sam Kriegman, Ph.D., the lead author on the new study. However, the replication of xenebots is quite unlike that of frogs, or any animal or plant for that matter. These bots reproduce using ‘kinematic self-replication’. Co-author Josh Bongard  [explains](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-unveiled-the-worlds-first-living-robots-last-year-now-they-can-now-reproduce-180979150/)  the process as, “One \[xenobot\]parent can begin a pile and then, by chance, a second parent can push more cells into that pile, and so on, generating the child.” This self-replication of xenebots is a monumental feat. The bots can be engineered into medical devices, help research with biology, and more!  “Xenobots could be used to clean up radioactive waste, collect microplastics in the oceans, carry medicine inside human bodies, or even travel into our arteries to scrape out plaque. The xenobots can survive in aqueous environments without additional nutrients for days or weeks — making them suitable for internal drug delivery,”  [reports](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/13/us/living-robot-stem-cells-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html)  CNN at the time of its initial discovery in 2020. ##### You May Also Like: [Coors Will Run Their Beer Ad In Your Dreams](https://www.ticketfairy.com/word/2021/11/25/coors-will-run-their-beer-ad-in-your-dreams) *Feature image via* [*Wyss Institute.*](https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/team-builds-first-living-robots-that-can-reproduce/) Compartir [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketfairy.com%2Fes%2Fword%2F2022%2F01%2F14%2Fworlds-first-living-robots-can-now-reproduce.md&text=World%E2%80%99s+First+Living+Robots+Can+Now+Reproduce) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketfairy.com%2Fes%2Fword%2F2022%2F01%2F14%2Fworlds-first-living-robots-can-now-reproduce.md) [WhatsApp](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=World%E2%80%99s+First+Living+Robots+Can+Now+Reproduce+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketfairy.com%2Fes%2Fword%2F2022%2F01%2F14%2Fworlds-first-living-robots-can-now-reproduce.md) ## Lavanya Thankappan Editor & writer at TFword. 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