Xenobots
Scientists in the United States have created the world’s first “living machines” — tiny robots built from the cells of the African clawed frog, that can move around on their own. They have named the millimetre-wide robots “xenobots” — after the species of aquatic frog found across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria and Sudan to South Africa, Xenopus laevis.
- “Scientists have repurposed living cells scraped from frog embryos and assembled them into entirely new life-forms.”
- The xenobots “can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient) — and heal themselves after being cut”.
Significance of Xenobots :
- While these “reconfigurable biomachines” could vastly improve human, animal and environmental health,
- They can also repair themselves after being damaged
- Some speculate they could be used to clean our polluted oceans by collecting microplastics.
- Similarly, they may be used to enter confined or dangerous areas to scavenge toxins or radioactive materials.
- Xenobots designed with carefully shaped “pouches” might be able to carry drugs into human bodies.
- Future versions may be built from a patient’s own cells to repair tissue or target cancers. Being biodegradable, xenobots would have an edge on technologies made of plastic or metal.
Challenge:
- They raise legal and ethical concerns.
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