100% frog genes, computer design, but AI is unlikely to intentionally design harmful organisms

Editor’s note: This article comes from WeChat public account 新 智 元 (ID: AI_era)

Source | github

Editing | Daming, Zhang Jia

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Yesterday, we reported that “the world’s first living robot” has sparked heated discussions among netizens. Some people worry that “new species” will not be able to evolve human beings themselves. Some people will wonder whether human beings are created this way. Some research details are in doubt. Today, we share the researchers’ answers to this research. The answers you want to know are all here.

Yesterday, we reported that “the world’s first living robot” caused a lot of sensation. (Review: )

The living robot named “Xenobots” has reorganized frog epidermal cells and heart cells into a new life form. It can move, “deliver”, and heal itself after cutting.

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Reorganization process

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Living robots can move

This amazing study comes from the University of Vermont and Tufts University teams and is published in the top journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Joshua Bongard

Corresponding author Joshua Bongard, computer scientist at the University of Vermont, said:

“They are neither traditional robots nor known animal species, but a new type of artifact: a living, programmable creature.”

When the news came out, people around the world reacted like this:

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After confirming no fraud, many netizens in the comment area expressed their fears and concerns about this research:

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Some netizens have brain holes: have humans been created this way?

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There are also some netizens who are interested in the details of this research. Next, we have compiled the questions and answers from researchers about this research and shared with you. All you want to know is here.

100% frog genes, computer design, but AI is unlikely to intentionally design harmful organisms

Q: What is the greater significance of this research? Is it just a robot made of frog cells?

A: How do cells cooperate with each other to build a complex and functional organism? How do they know what structure to construct and what signals to exchange? This is especially important for the biomedical industry.

At present, almost all problems in the medical field, including infectious disease research, have finally focused on the control of anatomy. If we can build the required 3D anatomy, we can repair newborn defects, reconstruct tumors into normal tissues, promote the regeneration of wounded tissues, and better fight the problems of aging.

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It can heal after being cut

Stem cell biology and gene editing technology alone cannot solve the above problems. These living robots can be used as a kind of “sandbox” to observe the developmental capabilities of cells in addition to their normal developmental morphology.

Our “living robot” uses 100% frog genes, but its appearance and behavior characteristics are not like frogs at all, and it was made without a background of biological evolution and without facing the pressure of natural selection. These behaviors.

Once we understand what special structures can be constructed by cells under the appropriate stimulation conditions, the research on “regenerative medicine” may achieve new major breakthroughs, and it will promote new developments in robotics, communication systems, and AI platforms. the study.

The current long-term goal is to clarify the ability of living cells to build special structures, and use this ability to solve problems that cannot be directly solved by existing micromanipulation technologies (such as constructing artificial eyes, artificial hands, etc.). We have reason to believe that this paper is only the first step in a series of future research breakthroughs.

Q: What kind of biological tissue can be used to create computer-designed organisms?

A: Frog skin (green in the picture below)