Kozminski Techblog

American scientists have for the first time developed miniature robots from living cells using supercomputer modeling. Specialists published an article describing the work done in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “These are not traditional robots and not a well-known species of animals.  This is a new class – a living, programmable organism, ”explained Professor of Vermont University Joshua Bongard, who is one of the developers of the project.

The stem cells of the smooth Spur frog embryos (Xenopus laevis) served as the material for creating robots that can move independently, perform basic tasks, and even cure harm, so experts called them xenobots.

Each xenobot is made up of some 500 to 1000 cells.  The scale of a biorobot like that does not exceed one millimeter.  Scientists hope the technology may be used in the future to distribute drugs delivered through the human arteries or to remove plaque from the blood vessels.

Xenobot drawings were compiled from the University of Vermont’s Deep Green supercomputer.  The computer then selected the most effective methods, according to which scientists manually assembled robots using small tweezers and an electric scalpel.  In this scenario, frog skin stem cells were used to build a xenobot structure, and biorobots got the ability to travel with the aid of heart cells.  The skin cells were functioning like “scaffolding,” keeping everything together and the heart muscle contractions made the xenobots function and shift.Researchers succeeded in simulating four “limbs” and a small depression in the middle, which resulted in their becoming a bit bigger than a pin head like an inverted stool.  Xenobots are completely biodegradable, die off and easily disposed after five to seven days, after use.

The “live” xenobots can however be considered very binding.  You can’t grow or multiply.  xenobots are a small dead clot when the cells are without nutrients.

References:

https://www.thermofisher.com/pl/en/home/life-science/stem-cell-research.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAsIDxBRAsEiwAV76N8zG4H2eZkB5qIiayROjSXpXhUlKCc-YNv_sroJUVmaGp0bH-D8dkmRoCM7QQAvD_BwE&s_kwcid=AL!3652!3!299086152860!p!!g!!stem%20cell&ef_id=CjwKCAiAsIDxBRAsEiwAV76N8zG4H2eZkB5qIiayROjSXpXhUlKCc-YNv_sroJUVmaGp0bH-D8dkmRoCM7QQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3652!3!299086152860!p!!g!!stem%20cellhttps://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/13/scientists-use-stem-cells-from-frogs-to-build-first-living-robotshttps://www.engadget.com/2020/01/15/uvm-tufts-living-robots-xenobots/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAInFk4oPTRpub7HhvZj9tMDroEH7B05COWExRmxYOSK3OY0E2uFLajLlYioQ7crKm-e_ot5SHrgdcujlPmEqwhC5-BsMfoF3F1X4tjN0eDUZTZpG8hS9ZSNABCDf3dQgAvagd-G0vfdB2I9Msjd4y8Bs0yGTiRHEtGSnDAIG-VGHhttps://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-built-robots-entirely-out-of-living-frog-cellshttps://elifesciences.org/?gclid=CjwKCAiAsIDxBRAsEiwAV76N8wTbC8RNsHZCGzXxeghn3v4SoCF8ZwPx7lXuyP6z-6rLaJ7FdnNKgxoCoDMQAvD_BwE