This biologist built a living robot from frog cells — and it could hold the key to the future of regenerative medicine: This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.

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Developmental biologist Michael Levin proposes an alternative approach to regenerative medicine: one that involves communicating with cells to trigger specific associations and induce changes in tissues. He envisions a future where biomedicine relies less on chemistry, and looks more like behavioral science. By leveraging the native competencies of cells, Levin thinks researchers can achieve complex outcomes without micromanagement. He demonstrates this through the regeneration of frog legs by simply prompting cells towards the regenerative state. Levin introduces “xenobots,” bio-robots formed by self-assembling frog skin cells. These xenobots are key to the regenerative medicine of the future, with the potential to create solutions for birth defects, reprogramming tumors — even creating new organs. Levin emphasizes the moral imperative to pursue this research to address pressing medical needs.

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