World's First Living Robots Can Now Reproduce, Scientists Say (cnn.com) 77
The US scientists who created the first living robots say the life forms, known as xenobots, can now reproduce -- and in a way not seen in plants and animals. CNN reports: Formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) from which it takes its name, xenobots are less than a millimeter (0.04 inches) wide. The tiny blobs were first unveiled in 2020 after experiments showed that they could move, work together in groups and self-heal. Now the scientists that developed them at the University of Vermont, Tufts University and Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering said they have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction different from any animal or plant known to science.
[T]hey found that the xenobots, which were initially sphere-shaped and made from around 3,000 cells, could replicate. But it happened rarely and only in specific circumstances. The xenobots used "kinetic replication" -- a process that is known to occur at the molecular level but has never been observed before at the scale of whole cells or organisms [...]. With the help of artificial intelligence, the researchers then tested billions of body shapes to make the xenobots more effective at this type of replication. The supercomputer came up with a C-shape that resembled Pac-Man, the 1980s video game. They found it was able to find tiny stem cells in a petri dish, gather hundreds of them inside its mouth, and a few days later the bundle of cells became new xenobots.
The xenobots are very early technology -- think of a 1940s computer -- and don't yet have any practical applications. However, this combination of molecular biology and artificial intelligence could potentially be used in a host of tasks in the body and the environment, according to the researchers. This may include things like collecting microplastics in the oceans, inspecting root systems and regenerative medicine. While the prospect of self-replicating biotechnology could spark concern, the researchers said that the living machines were entirely contained in a lab and easily extinguished, as they are biodegradable and regulated by ethics experts. "Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics but it's not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people," said Josh Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In that way it's a robot but it's also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cell."
"The AI didn't program these machines in the way we usually think about writing code. It shaped and sculpted and came up with this Pac-Man shape," Bongard said. "The shape is, in essence, the program. The shape influences how the xenobots behave to amplify this incredibly surprising process."
[T]hey found that the xenobots, which were initially sphere-shaped and made from around 3,000 cells, could replicate. But it happened rarely and only in specific circumstances. The xenobots used "kinetic replication" -- a process that is known to occur at the molecular level but has never been observed before at the scale of whole cells or organisms [...]. With the help of artificial intelligence, the researchers then tested billions of body shapes to make the xenobots more effective at this type of replication. The supercomputer came up with a C-shape that resembled Pac-Man, the 1980s video game. They found it was able to find tiny stem cells in a petri dish, gather hundreds of them inside its mouth, and a few days later the bundle of cells became new xenobots.
The xenobots are very early technology -- think of a 1940s computer -- and don't yet have any practical applications. However, this combination of molecular biology and artificial intelligence could potentially be used in a host of tasks in the body and the environment, according to the researchers. This may include things like collecting microplastics in the oceans, inspecting root systems and regenerative medicine. While the prospect of self-replicating biotechnology could spark concern, the researchers said that the living machines were entirely contained in a lab and easily extinguished, as they are biodegradable and regulated by ethics experts. "Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics but it's not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people," said Josh Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In that way it's a robot but it's also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cell."
"The AI didn't program these machines in the way we usually think about writing code. It shaped and sculpted and came up with this Pac-Man shape," Bongard said. "The shape is, in essence, the program. The shape influences how the xenobots behave to amplify this incredibly surprising process."
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reproduce by wigtosis
Grey goo, here we come! (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope they made extra sure that they got every single one when it came time to clean up after themelves
Re:Grey goo, here we come! (Score:5, Funny)
Nonsense. Microbiologists are all very careful and would not release any of their work accidentally.
Microbiologists are very careful (Score:2)
But not, it appears, the virologists.
The fact that the source of Covid has been fudged over is really quite bad, because otherwise people would be paying more attention to this sort of thing. Although this particular technology looks fine.
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But not, it appears, the virologists.
It's almost like that was what the person you are replying to was alluding to!
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And ethicists would not have conflicts of interest (Score:1)
... like being married to someone developing the technology they regulate. From one related article: "Now that Dr. Anthony Fauci is feeling the heat for funding gain-of-function research at Wuhan Institute of Virology and covering it up, it's time to scrutinize his wife. Christine Grady, MSN, Ph.D., is Fauci's colleague at the National Institute of Health, where she serves as chief of bioethics and head of human subjects research at the NIH Clinical Center. According to the Center's website, Grady's contri
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Nonsense. Microbiologists are all very careful and would not release any of their work accidentally.
Not without taking appropriate credit for their work! ;)
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Thank you, at least someone remembered!
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"Sure, I got every last bi, bi, biiaaaah Chooo!"
A case for a space-based laboratory (Score:1)
We should think through what is going on here. If this technology were to get out of control, we can expect there to be major repercussions both in terms of scientific research guidelines and possibly society at large. Are there other examples of dangerous things that escaped from laboratories? Sure, we have secure facilities to do this work, but how secure is secure?
In order not to muzzle scientific progress, which could happen if a societal backlash resulted from a mishap, it probably is time to see ma
I for one welcome our ... (Score:1)
... nevermind, suddenly the joke lost its humor.
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Damn, beat me to it. I miss the days when this would've been the first post. ;-)
Not a robot (Score:5, Informative)
If it's not a machine, it's not a robot. If it has biological parts but is driven by a computer, it could be considered a robot. If it has machine parts but is driven by a brain, it's a cyborg, which is not a robot. What this team created is entirely biological. The shape of the thing alone is not a program, and doesn't make it a machine.
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I'm just saying to call it something else like software defined genetic automatons, or cyber genetics. Hopefully someone will invent a cool new name for what they're doing so they can hype that instead of living robots.
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I'm just saying to call it something else like software defined genetic automatons, or cyber genetics. Hopefully someone will invent a cool new name for what they're doing so they can hype that instead of living robots.
I'm sure someone will come up with a name: it shouldn't be that hard. Because all this kind of thing has happened before (and it will happen again).
Re: Not a robot (Score:2)
Oh, but it is a machine. A biological one.
The bicentennial man was also a robot until the last minute, despite being all biologic for the latter part of his life. Says the inventor of the term "robot" himself, Asimov.
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Says the inventor of the term "robot" himself, Asimov.
Karel Capek would like to have a word [wikipedia.org] with you.
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Re: Not a robot (Score:2)
Thanks for clarification.
The thing about the bicentennial man still holds, though.
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The first definition of the word machine [merriam-webster.com] is "a mechanically, electrically, or electronically operated device for performing a task". The second definition is of things resembling the first definition.
The first definition of the word robot [merriam-webster.com] is "a machine that resembles a living creature".
Clearly, the primary definitions of the words machine and robot is for non-living things.
Definitions can change, but the need for words to help us call out the important features of something remains the same. If the definiti
Re: Not a robot (Score:2)
Wouldn't worry too much about that. Dictionaries will catch up once artificial biological mechanism are useful enough and prevalent enough to enter mainstream.
The latin term deus ex machina already suggests an understanding of "machine" that is wider than the one you quoted.
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Re: Not a robot (Score:2)
It will be probably called "maintanance" or so... *shrug*
Re:Not a robot (Score:4, Interesting)
If it's not a machine, it's not a robot.
not really. etymologically the term robot is strictly more appropriate to this than to nearly anything else it has been used for in literature since 1921 (including science fiction, all media and technical publications) when it was coined: the term robot comes from "robota" which apparently just means "forced labour", and was used by Karel apek to describe artificial humans created from artificial flesh and blood - so, organic machines - to serve other humans. we now call those (or mostly anything anthropomorphic) "androids", regardless of composition.
on the other hand i really see no problem in calling these things machines: structures with function. turns out that even the "wrong" meaning of robot is "correct" :-D
right for the wrong reason. despite robots often being depicted (and produced) as machines, the term "robot" comes from the czech "robota" which means "forced labour", so these things can't be called robots until we put them to work without their prior consent.
fortunately this dilemma will solve itself once progress completely blurs the difference between man and machine.
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aaand i need some of these to help me out in editing posts ...
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Hard to understand (Score:5, Insightful)
The xenobots are very early technology -- think of a 1940s computer -- and don't yet have any practical applications
This is hard to understand. Computers in the 1940s were either not complete computers (in which case they were not early technology), or very large, but they were all extremely practical. I don't think any part of this comparison is correct.
Re:Hard to understand (Score:4, Funny)
See, it’s kinda like a car
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Yeah, but a car from hundreds of thousands of years ago, the kind that you drive while running your feet on the ground.
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Computers in the 1940s were either not complete computers (in which case they were not early technology)
You're conflating technology and high technology. A 1940s computer is technology. So is a toothbrush. A 1940s computer was high technology in the 1940s, too.
50 years from now (Score:5, Interesting)
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You can always count on Slashdot for the best basement fantasies.
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Salt is your friend.
In all the old B horror movies from the 50s, the solution was always simple. Xenobots explode given salt. Do not fear the swarm!
Re: 50 years from now (Score:2)
oh man that reminded me of that one with the worms that shoot into your nose and mind control you... but salt killed them and made people shoot them out and regain control.
Watched it when I was a bit too young and I still remember it.
Release self-replicating bots in the environment? (Score:2)
this combination of molecular biology and artificial intelligence could potentially be used in a host of tasks in the body and the environment
Release self-replicating xenobots in the environment? What could possibly go wrong?
Re: Release self-replicating bots in the environme (Score:2)
What could possibly go wrong?
They'd probably all get eaten by mould or something 3 days into their "take over the world" spree?
Grey Goo (Score:2)
I wonder what reasons the skeptics are going to give when the invariable nano-bot "lab-leak" incident occurs and instead of people getting sick they just end up a bucket of chemicals on the floor? "Everyone knows grey goo is what happens when you don't get enough fiber, duh! Can you believe these alt-right conspiracy theorists spreading disinformation about a nanobot lab-leak?! Crazy, right!"
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I wonder what reasons the skeptics are going to give
We will say that this blob of cells has no ability whatsoever to survive outside of its petri dish. It is less dangerous than a microscopic speck of raw hamburger.
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Will you also claim that is not a future direction?
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Can I get a microscopic pickle on that burger?
Calling them robots is a big stretch (Score:1)
A robot implies a physical machine or object that can execute an arbitrary (usually event-driven) program.
The program can certainly be hard-wired into the physical structure of the thing on some level, but the same type of gizmo ought to be able to execute the computations and resulting physical actions for any program. A KillBot 5000 (TM) ought to be able to rattle off the opening to Beethoven's 5th symphony with its machine guns, if so programmed. Doing so won't make it unlike its more standard cousins.
Th
There is no way... (Score:4)
Re: There is no way... (Score:2)
Like all the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed grad students who worked on it having their hopes dashed and realizing it only by the time they're 40 year old postdocs and still living with 3 roommates in a 2br apartment?
Yeah...that's no good at all.
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Like all the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed grad students who worked on it having their hopes dashed and realizing it only by the time they're 40 year old postdocs and still living with 3 roommates in a 2br apartment?
Yeah...that's no good at all.
But, but, but those sweet sweet piles of research money! Can’t forget those!1! They should be excited to be salaried working 90 hour weeks for less money per hour than a McDonalds employee.
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What could go wrong?
Kudzu (Score:1)
Think of many invasive species, which were introduced because there were so many wonderful things they would accomplish. We now regret our decision to introduce them.
Robot or Organism? (Score:1)
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"Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics but it's not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people,"
So this means when I call my dog over to eat food spilled on the floor it’s actually a robot!
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Not only your dog but this definition covers almost every person on earth. Most of us "act on [our] own on behalf of people" (in one fashion or another).
Ya know where this is going (Score:3)
"We are the Frog Borg; resistance is ribbit."
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And nothing could possibly... (Score:2)
Well, you know the rest.
Energy input? (Score:2)
So...what does it eat? Or how does it?
Do they just perish? If so, how is there energy to reproduce another Xenobot that will...do anything before reproducing and perishing itself?
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I have it on good authority they will feed exclusively on a diet of Soylent Green.
Release self-replicating bots in the environment? (Score:2)
this combination of molecular biology and artificial intelligence could potentially be used in a host of tasks in the body and the environment
Release self-replicating xenobots into the environment? What could possibly go wrong?
Has anyone seen 'the blob' (Score:2)
because if it didn't come from a meteor, it will surely come from xenobots. Just remember if they get out of hand take them to Antarctica
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Yes, the 1958 and 1988 versions.
That's the sequel "Beware! The blob" AKA "Son of blob", 1972: Haven't seen it.
"Robot" (Score:2)
So my dog, fetching something on command, is a robot? Or spouse?
COuld it be just? (Score:1)
Does it make the stem cells? (Score:3)
It's not clear from the article where the stem cells come from. Maybe I missed it in biology 301, but I didn't know that there were stem cells just hanging out in the environment. Interesting. Maybe when the little "robots" are able to harvest raw materials, use them, create a duplicate, and "program" it we can call these self-replicating "robots."
frog cells (Score:1)
von Neumann machines? (Score:2)
Tribbles ? (Score:2)
Born pregnant, unstoppable reproduction. But in this case- no pretense of cuteness. And of course these tiny individuals will join with others and develop specialties such as vision and other sensory apparatus. Xenobots will form complex entities that can grow to unlimited size. They will become shape shifters capable of sliding into your house through the smallest opening and then re-forming themselves into whatever monstrous shape is most effective for drinking all your beer, smoking all your stash and ha
One step closer (Score:2)
The shape is the program? (Score:2)
The Blob! (Score:1)
Movie theaters have had it bad from the pandemic. Now there really IS a Blob!
No sir! Not me! I'll wait for movies to come out on home streaming!