---
title: "Scientists Are Printing Living “Xenobots” out of Biological Cells"
description: "Xenobots mark a major step forward in biological robots. The tiny, short-lived creatures are designed in a virtual world then 3D printed with living cells."
date: "2020-04-03"
modified: "2020-04-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/living-xenobots-biological-cells"
categories:
  - "Biology"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "biology"
  - "living machinery"
  - "robots"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Are Printing Living “Xenobots” out of Biological Cells

![Xenobots mark a major step forward in biological robots. The tiny, short-lived creatures are designed in a virtual world then 3D printed with living cells.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/living-xenobots-biological-cells.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Douglas Blackiston/Sam Kriegman\</em\>*

## It's Alive!

Computer scientists and biologists have teamed up to create a new kind of living robot.

Grown from the stem cells of the frog *Xenopus laevis*, these so-called xenobots represent a new fusion of biological life and robotics that defies any sort of conventional definition, *[The New York Times ](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/science/xenobots-robots-frogs-xenopus.html>)*[reports](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/science/xenobots-robots-frogs-xenopus.html>). They only live for about a week and are far simpler — biologically speaking — than other organisms, but the lab-grown, pre-programmed life forms represent a major step forward in the [pursuit of living machinery](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tiny-robots-powered-muscles-nerves>).

## Designer Babies

Xenobots, which were [first brought to life](<https://futurism.com/scientists-worlds-first-living-robots-stem-cells>) back in January, can't reproduce. Instead, computer scientists program them in a virtual environment and then 3D print their creations out of embryonic cells.

"We are witnessing almost the birth of a new discipline of synthetic organisms," Columbia University roboticist Hod Lipson, who was not part of the research team, told the *NYT*. "I don’t know if that’s robotics, or zoology or something else."

## Form, Function

For now, xenobots are extremely limited: they don't have nervous systems or much else in the way of complex biology, and their behavior is determined by their physical shape. For instance, the *NYT* describes a snowplow-shaped one that can sweep up stray particles in its petri dish.

But even if they're simple now, the xenobots are an extraordinary accomplishment — and represent a new scientific field to keep an eye on.

**READ MORE:** [Meet the Xenobots, Virtual Creatures Brought to Life](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/science/xenobots-robots-frogs-xenopus.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on xenobots:** *[Scientists Build “First Living Robots” From Frog Stem Cells](<https://futurism.com/scientists-worlds-first-living-robots-stem-cells>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)