Xenobots - The World's First Biological Robots (A Talk by Dr. Douglas Blackiston)
Channel: Socratic Studios
Date: 2021-07-31

Robots are conventionally thought of as inanimate objects made of metal and wire. However, a team of scientists have built the first living robots - xenobots. These programmable organisms are repurposed frog cells with capabilities like memory and regeneration. Not only do xenobots stretch our current understanding of biology and evolution, they also have practical applications such as cleaning the ocean of microplastics and mending organs. Learn more about these organisms, their abilities, and what they mean for the field of biology in this talk by Dr. Douglas Blackiston, a key member of the team, who has worked closely with xenobots.