Scientists invent first self-reproducing ROBOTS just like in the Matrix

Researchers at the University of Vermont have enabled new lifeforms called “Xenobots” to self-replicate.

Yes, you read that correctly, and no, this is not a review for a new sci-fi movie.

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Since the dawn of time, any self or sexual reproduction on Earth has consisted of progeny growing within or on the organism’s body.

However, researchers led by the University of Vermont have orchestrated the first-ever self-replication by a living robot — and it’s something the world of science has never seen before.

“People have thought for quite a long time that we’ve worked out all the ways that life can reproduce or replicate. But this is something that’s never been observed before,” says co-author Douglas Blackiston, the senior scientist at Tufts University.

The team of scientists initially created the Xenobots, which are the first-ever living robots, in 2020.

The robots were designed on a supercomputer using artificial intelligence (AI) and engineered in real life using embryonic stem cells from a frog.

And now, the same team has found that this hybrid organism can swim out into its petri dish, find single cells, gather hundreds of them together, and form “baby” Xenobots inside of its mouth, which is Pac-man shaped.

In a few days’ time, those cells can then morph into new Xenobots that are identical to themselves.

“This is profound. These cells have the genome of a frog, but, freed from becoming tadpoles, they use their collective intelligence, and plasticity, to do something astounding,” Michael Levin, Ph.D., a professor of biology at Tufts University and co-leader of the new research, added.

Researchers said that without the help of AI, they might not have been able to make this groundbreaking discovery, as, on its own, the Xenobot parent can only make children for a little while before their system shuts down.

However, AI was able to figure out the right design to allow the cells to be more effective at “kinematic” replication — a type of molecular replication that has never before been observed with whole cells.

The discovery has proved to be monumental in the field of biology and yields much promise for regenerative medicine.

“If we knew how to tell collections of cells to do what we wanted them to do, ultimately, that’s regenerative medicine—that’s the solution to traumatic injury, birth defects, cancer, and aging,” Levin said.

“All of these different problems are here because we don’t know how to predict and control what groups of cells are going to build. Xenobots are a new platform for teaching us,” he added.

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In other news, Samsung is reportedly killing off its beloved Note smartphone after more than a decade.

Apple has announced that it will let customers fix their own iPhones for the first time starting next year.

And the UK is fighting an epidemic of hack attacks targeting consumers and businesses, according to officials.