A growing snowball of research concerning a new class of AI-designed multicellular organisms known as \u201cxenobots<\/a>\u201d is gaining scientific attention for their apparent autonomy. In September 2024, Peter Noble, Ph.D., a microbiologist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with Alex Pozhitkov, Ph.D., a bioinformatics researcher at the City of Hope cancer center, detailed this research on the website The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Xenobots are cells that form new roles beyond their original biological function\u2014for example, using hairlike cilia for locomotion rather than transporting mucus. Because they appear to reassemble into this new form and function, the authors argue that xenobots form a kind of \u201cthird state\u201d of life, wherein cells can reorganize after the death of an organism to form something new. These forms likely wouldn\u2019t materialize in nature, but xenobots show that cells have a surprising ability to adapt to changes in their environment. Experiments with human cells, or \u201canthrobots,\u201d exhibit this behavior, too.<\/p>\n \u201cTaken together, these findings \u2026 challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways,\u201d the authors write in The Conversation. \u201cThe third state suggests that [an organism\u2019s] death may play a significant role in how life transforms over time.\u201d<\/p>\n The implications for these cellular robots, or biobots, are pretty big\u2014imagine tailor-made medicines crafted from your own tissues to avoid a dangerous immune response. But they also form a complicated picture of what a cell actually is. At least, that\u2019s what evolutionary biologist and physician William Miller thinks. He\u2019s the co-author of the 2023 book The Sentient Cell, which explores ideas found in the Cellular Basis of Consciousness<\/a> (CBC) theory suggesting that cells retain a kind of consciousness. Miller believes that xenobots are just another example of how we don\u2019t give credit to the inherent cognitive\u2014or even conscious<\/a>\u2014abilities of the cells that make up our bodies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe organism as a whole no longer responds as it had, but subsets of cells are active, decision-making, and problem-solving,\u201d Miller says. \u201cSo this fundamentally reconstitutes how we see the living frame \u2026 the fundamental unit of biological agency is the conscious cell.\u201d <\/p>\n Consciousness<\/a> is a notoriously slippery term, and one whose definition can change based on fields of a study, context, or even across time. Famously, the 17th century philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and all-around smart guy Ren\u00e9 Descartes thought only the human mind was conscious (which led to some inhumane experiments). Thankfully, today science recognizes various types of consciousness throughout the animal kingdom, but when it comes to forms of life fundamentally unlike us, human biases of what can be conscious or intelligent slowly creep in.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as humans, have very limited capacity and finely honed ability to see intelligence in medium-sized objects moving at medium speeds through three-dimensional space,\u201d says Tufts University developmental and synthetic biologist Michael Levin, Ph.D., in a video<\/a> exploring cellular intelligence. His lab constructed xenobots, and he says human beings are bad at recognizing intelligence when it\u2019s \u201cextremely small or extremely large.\u201d<\/p>\n For Miller, the concept of a sentient cell is a fundamental sea change in biology that challenges some Neo-Darwinian ideas like \u201csurvival of the fittest.\u201d Because cells must work in concert to be successful, a more accurate microbial catchphrase might be \u201cI serve myself best by serving others,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n Putting the intelligent cell at the center of biology \u201cspills out an entirely new biological narrative where genes are not controlling, genes are tools. In which we understand why organisms choose to stick together in their trillions, to solve problems, [for] decision-making, mutual support, partnerships, synergies, co-dependencies, collaboration\u2014it\u2019s not survival of the fittest,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n Many scientists aren\u2019t sold on this brave new future for biology. A 2024 letter published in the journal EMBO Reports<\/a> describes CBC theory as \u201cmerely an intellectual exercise without empirical evidence\u201d and the authors remain equally skeptical of consciousness claims regarding xenobots or other \u201cthird state\u201d organisms. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been known for maybe 75 years or more that cells can be induced to develop abnormally when taken out of context and cultured in vitro. This is nothing new,\u201d University of California, Santa Cruz plant biologist Lincoln Taiz, Ph.D. and co-author of the letter, said in an email. \u201cWhen an insect herbivore secretes hormones into plant leaves, causing the leaves to form galls [abnormal growths] that serve as houses for the insect, is that a \u2018third state\u2019 of life?\u201d Taiz has also tackled what he describes as \u201cmyths\u201d surrounding plant consciousness and co-authored a review<\/a> in 2019 titled \u201cPlants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n And for Wendy Ann Peer, Ph.D., a biologist at the University of Maryland who also served as co-author of the dissenting CBC letter, the idea of cellular consciousness simply lacks the scientific rigor necessary to be considered a theory. \u201cWith the scientific method, there has to be a control and a hypothesis that\u2019s clearly tested,\u201d Peer says. \u201cAnd the key for your hypothesis is that it has to be falsifiable.\u201d<\/p>\n When cells are taken out of context and are no longer exchanging information or signals from nearby cells, different genes can be expressed than what\u2019s normal, Peer says. Simply put, the xenobots are an advanced version of \u201canimal caps,\u201d a well-known technique in developmental biology in which cells retain the ability to differentiate into other cells. <\/p>\n While some experts say cells are more than just automatons following strict genetic orders, scientists still overwhelmingly define consciousness as pertaining to something with a nervous system and a brain capable of yielding a subjective point of view. However, despite this disagreement, both groups agree on at least one important point\u2014understanding cells and exploring their many capabilities is a huge opportunity. Taiz compares the potential use of anthrobots in medicine to humans behaving as their own \u201cgall-forming insects in plants,\u201d via altering the development of stem cells to create particular cell behaviors. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Miller agrees. \u201cLevin\u2019s work is a good example of trying to discern how to partner with cells to create living forms to help humans,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re learning to do what cells do, and we\u2019re going to partner with them if we\u2019re smart.\u201d<\/p>\n Conscious or not, it looks like cells will undoubtedly play a starring role in the unfolding future of human health.<\/p>\n Find the Perfect Men’s Health Training Program for You Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes\/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biological cycle of our existence seems relatively straightforward: we\u2019re born, we live, we die. The end. But…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":170567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[97519,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-170566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-coresynd","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115081245300955554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chevron](\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/arrow-left-regular.dc4f48a.svg?primary=%2523D4D4D4\"){kind=icon}
![\"Chevron](\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/arrow-right-regular.e879c19.svg?primary=%2523fff\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n