Nanowire technology can double the efficiency of solar cells
For billions of years, organisms have evolved a variety of ways of reproduction to continue life. Recently, a research team from the University of Vermont and Tufts University in the United States discovered a new way of biological reproduction and used this discovery to create the first-ever self-reproducing living robot-Xenobots 3.0, which may be the future Provide more direct and personalized drug treatments for trauma, birth defects, cancer, aging, etc. Related research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on the 29th.
Last year, the research team used skin and heart cells from Xenopus early embryos to assemble a new life form, creating the world's first living robot "Xenobots" (xenobiotics).
The newly upgraded Xenobots 3.0 is only millimeters in size. It is neither a traditional robot nor an animal, but a living, programmable organism.
The researchers found that if enough Xenobots are placed close to each other in a petri dish, they will aggregate and stack other individual stem cells floating in the solution, using their "mouths" shaped like Pac-Man to assemble the stem cells into " Baby" Xenobots. In a few days, these "babies" will become new Xenobots that look and act like their mothers. Then these new Xenobots can go out again to find stem cells and build their own "copy", just like that, repeating again and again.
The lead author of the study, Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at the University of Vermont, Josh Bongard, said that Xenobots were originally spherical and consisted of approximately 3,000 cells. The kinetic replication at the molecular level is well known, but it has never been observed at the level of the entire cell or organism before, and the replication of Xenobots 3.0 uses this mechanism.
Bogarde said that to make Xenobots more effective in this type of replication, researchers used artificial intelligence technology to test billions of body types, and finally shaped a C shape similar to Pac-Man, which can be used in a petri dish. Find tiny stem cells, gather and complete replication.
Although the prospect of self-reproduction biotechnology is worrying, the researchers said that these robots are completely confined in laboratories, are biodegradable, can be easily eliminated, and have passed US federal, state, and institutional ethics experts. Review.
Look, this is already Xenobots 3.0. From its birth last year to the present, it has been upgraded twice in two years, and the innovation efficiency of scientists is comparable to that of Internet giants. This living robot can move independently and quickly, and now it has also learned to reproduce itself. They will go out to find cells on their own, and they can replicate themselves through cell assembly. Of course, they can't reproduce too wildly, otherwise, it is also worrying. This ability of the third-generation robots makes people naturally think of two keywords: regeneration and repair. In human medicine, this kind of robot also has the potential to flex its muscles. Looking forward to seeing more updated versions of them.
