[VIDEO] Scientists SHOCKED as the ‘first living robot’ can now reproduce!

According to media reports, United States (US) scientists have created the first living robots that can reproduce. The reproduction process is unique, not seen ever before in both plants and animals.

About the first living robots – Xenobots

The first living robots are known as Xenobots because they were formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). According to sources, Xenobots are less than a millimeter (0.04 inches) wide.

Recently, the scientists that developed Xenobots discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction different from any animal or plant known to science.

Scientists describe the Reproduction

Michael Levin, a professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University who was co-lead author of the new research, said:

I was astounded by it. Frogs have a way of reproducing that they normally use. But when you … liberate (the cells) from the rest of the embryo and you give them a chance to figure out how to be in a new environment, not only do they figure out a new way to move, but they also figure out apparently a new way to reproduce.

Scientist Sam Kriegman said:

While people may think of large industrial or metallic figures as robots, the term really refers to any machine that does physical, useful work in the world. We tried to figure out what useful work they could do, and one of the things that we came up with was to clean up the dish.

Kriegman further shared:

We placed dye particles and silicone-coated iron beads into the petri dish and observed the movement of the little Xenobots. We observed that they were piling up the debris. Xenobots are bulldozers that move around and push stem cells into piles.

He concluded the statement by saying:

I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing. What happens when they make the piles. What do the cells become when they’re piles?’ We didn’t know. We found out by letting those piles develop over a few days and then bringing them into a new dish and seeing if they can move. This pointed towards the piles becoming “offspring” of the stem cells, growing their own cilia and operating independently. And it turns out that is possible.

Joshua Bongard, a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, stated:

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. In that way, it’s a robot, but it’s also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cells.

Way forward for Xenobots

According to Joshua Bongard, the researchers are aware of the technical and ethical problems with robots that copy themselves without prompting. However, the team is determined to keep the process going. The goal is to understand self-reproduction and learn how to control it, direct it, douse it, exaggerate it.

It is pertinent to mention that this development will continue in a tightly-controlled lab that can lead to carefully managed growth. The scientists believe that the success of this project will lead to the creation of regenerative medicine and anti-pollution tools that wasn’t possible before.

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