"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," Douglas Blackiston, co-author and a senior scientist at Tufts University and Harvard University, said in a news release.
The xenobots were first developed and reported in 2020. They are made from about 3,000 embryonic skin cells of an African clawed frog.
The researchers discovered that these xenobots -- when designed properly -- can swim around while collecting hundreds of single cells to assemble smaller versions of themselves in their mouths. These smaller xenobots can grow to be full-size within a few days.
This method of reproduction is known as kinematic replication and is common in molecules, but has never been seen in cells or organisms.
"This is profound," Michael Levin, a co-leader of the study and a professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University. "These cells have the genome of a frog, but, freed from becoming tadpoles, they use their collective intelligence, a plasticity, to do something astounding."
To discover the xenobots’ reproduction capabilities, the researchers used a supercomputer at the University of Vermont to simulate billions of body shapes to determine what would be ideal for kinematic replication.
Months later, the computer returned a xenobot in a shape that resembled a Pac-Man figure, with a large mouth that can be used to build other xenobots.
“It looks very simple, but it's not something a human engineer would come up with,” said Sam Kriegman, the lead author of the study and a post-doctoral researcher at Tufts University and Harvard University.
For those concerned about the idea of self-replicating biotechnology, the researchers stress federal, state and institutional ethics experts also approved the study. It is also contained in a lab and can be extinguished easily.
“What presents risk is the next pandemic, accelerating ecosystem damage from pollution, (and) intensifying threats from climate change," said Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont.
"This is an ideal system in which to study self-replicating systems. We have a moral imperative to understand the conditions under which we can control it, direct it, douse it, exaggerate it."
The researchers also note that this technology has a host of potential benefits for humans, including regenerative medicine, cleaning ocean pollution and vaccine research.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
A Canadian expert warns eradicating an ever-increasing population of wild pigs in Manitoba likely won't be possible, but new money from the provincial and federal governments will help in the fight to get the invasive species under control.
A new humpback whale calf has been spotted in the Salish Sea, just south of B.C., marking the first calf of the 2024 season, the Pacific Whale Watch Association announced Wednesday.
A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions won approval from the state House Wednesday after two weeks of mounting pressure on Republicans over an issue that has bedeviled former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign to return to the White House.
Houthi militants in Yemen have attacked what they said were two American ships and an Israeli vessel, the group's military spokesman said on Wednesday, the first such attack in more than two weeks.
Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.S.-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space, a move that prompted the United States to question if Moscow was hiding something.
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, the first proof that he survived being badly wounded during his capture on October 7.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not going to comment on the future of TikTok in the United States, but his own government will continue to look out for Canadians' security.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Wednesday that the Canada Revenue Agency is 'very, very good' at getting the money it's owed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that it had found bird flu virus particles in some samples of pasteurized milk, but said commercial milk supply remains safe.
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday that could ban TikTok in the U.S. while his campaign has embraced the platform and tried to work with influencers.
A new paper says a giant salmon that lived five million years ago in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest used tusk-like spikes as defense mechanisms and for building nests to spawn.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not going to comment on the future of TikTok in the United States, but his own government will continue to look out for Canadians' security.
It's a midweek lunchtime on an unassuming residential street in Vauxhall, south London. There aren't many people about – the occasional dog walker, a few runners, a couple of delivery drivers. I'’s pretty much what you’d expect on a drizzly work day.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Blink and you'll miss the new trailer for director Zoe Kravitz's upcoming thriller starring Channing Tatum. Kravitz unveiled the first trailer for 'Blink Twice,' her directorial debut, on Tuesday and it’s every bit as creepy as the title sounds.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
The hugely popular Chinese app TikTok may be forced out of the U.S., where a measure to outlaw the video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to U.S. President Biden for his signature. In India, the app was banned nearly four years ago.
British competition regulators said Wednesday they'll scrutinize recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry.
A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost was sold at an auction in Vienna on Wednesday for 30 million euros (US$32 million).
Canada's Denis Shapovalov advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open tennis tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Argentina's Facundo Diaz Acosta on Wednesday.
A made-in-China electric vehicle will hit North American dealers this summer offering power and efficiency similar to the Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling EV, but for about US$8,000 less.
Tesla's first-quarter net income plummeted 55 per cent as falling global sales and price cuts sliced into the electric vehicle maker's revenue and profit margins.
Josef Newgarden’s win in IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg was disqualified Wednesday because Team Penske manipulated its push-to-pass system during the race, making Pato O’Ward the winner.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Crown counsel was unable to approve "significant" drug and weapons charges stemming from an arrest in Quesnel, B.C., last year because the officers involved "refused to provide any evidence," according to a report from the province’s police watchdog.
The Ontario government says it will be raising the speed limit along certain stretches of provincial highways soon, including Highway 401 and Highway 403.
New condo sales in the Toronto region dropped to the lowest quarterly total since the financial crisis in 2009 amid high interest rates and affordability issues, a new report has found.
Officers with Southern Alberta’s district crime reduction unit were investigating property crime in Mountain View County when they recovered a substantial amount of it.
The National Capital Commission has purchased the old Dunnderosa Golf Course in Chelsea, Que., as part of its plan to acquire private properties in Gatineau Park.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
The Quebec government has awarded the organization that manages Montreal's Olympic Stadium up to $40 million to pay for repairs and decontamination after a March 21 fire.
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
A funeral will be held Wednesday afternoon in Bedford, N.S., for a 16-year-old boy who died earlier this week following an incident near the Halifax Shopping Centre.
A throwing star and crossbow were among the seizures by police as part of a drug trafficking investigation on George Gordon First Nation and in Punnichy, Sask. last week.
Saskatchewan police caught 454 impaired drivers around the province in March. Of those, 142 are facing Criminal Code charges and the other 312 faced licence suspensions, according to a news release from Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).
A Saskatchewan woman who was taken for an involuntary mental health assessment is entitled to find out who had her committed, a provincial court judge has ruled.
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
The speed you travel on sections of 400 series highways in our region is increasing. The province says it will raise the speed limit to 110 km/h on multiple sections, including some in the London region.
The London Knights went out in the offseason and acquired the goaltender they believed could lead them to a championship. So far, so good as Michael Simpson is a perfect 8-0 in the post season.
U.S. Marshals joins search for Deshawn Davis, one of Canada’s most wanted, accused of the kidnapping of Elnaz Hajtamiri in Wasaga Beach January 2022 and the suspect in a nightclub shooting that took place in May of last year.
It was mid-October 2018 when Eric Spencer was last seen in Honey Harbour, a full-scale search by the OPP for the then 60-year-old from Thornbury scaled back when the search came up empty.
If musicians are the sole focus of a commercial event, those performers should be paid for their efforts. That's according to a local musician who set up an online petition after the Town of Essex issued a call for artists to perform at their annual summer concert series for free.
A member of the Brothers Keepers gang in British Columbia, which police describe as an 'extremely violent organized crime group,' has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on drug-trafficking charges.
To appreciate the two posters hanging in Stephen Campanelli’s laundry room, which he’s had for more than 40 years, you need to know he’s been a Clint Eastwood fan for even longer.
Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
Major crime detectives in British Columbia are investigating a suspected homicide after a body was found in a remote area southeast Kelowna over the weekend.
Wildfires in Alberta and B.C. appear to be getting off to an early start this year. Both province's wildfire services are doing what they can to prepare for what's expected to be a tough summer.
The Ontario Provincial Police, in partnership with the Treaty Three Police Service, have charged a suspect with murder following a homicide in a remote northwestern Ontario community.
Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes has shot several films around his home province, but with his new psychological thriller 'The King Tide' he saw an opportunity to wander into one unique town that had eluded him over the years.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says two people were found dead and four others survived after a boat capsized off the west coast of Newfoundland.