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You may or may not have heard of xenobots, a kind of Frankenfrog creation that involves researchers turning frog embryo cells into tiny bio-machines that can move around, push or carry objects, and work together. These ephemeral beings were first made by a team of scientists from Tufts University and the University of Vermont in 2020. The goal behind building these “bots” was to understand how cells communicate with one another. Here’s a breakdown of the hard facts behind how xenobots actually work, and what they are currently used for. What are xenobots? A “living robot” can sound like a...

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The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, typically lives in the streams and ponds of sub-Saharan Africa, scavenging for food that it rips apart with its feet. In January, researchers at the University of Vermont and Tufts University published a report that gave the amphibian a different lot in life. They harvested its embryonic skin and heart cells and reassembled the living matter into robotic devices — transforming Xenopus into xenobot. They’re designed on a supercomputer... There are no electronics involved. Behaviors are programmed entirely through the structural arrangement of the pulsating heart cells held in a matrix of rigid skin...