Xenobots: The living robots can now self-replicate

The same team from University of Vermont, Tufts University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University who created xenobots in 2020 from repurposed frog embryo cells have now made self-replicating xenobots that can reproduce in a manner entirely different from their amphibian progenitors.

These programmable and reproducing organisms might be developed to serve a range of beneficial purposes, from medicine to environmental clean-up. But technology, to be frank, sometimes contains a stein full of potential risks, too.

Drop by in another decade or so to see how this is playing out.