Scientists Create Novel Organism With Primitive Nervous System

Researchers at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute created neurobots by implanting clusters of neural precursor cells from African clawed frog embryos into developing xenobots. The implanted cells matured into neurons that extended axons and dendrites throughout the structures and formed primitive neural networks. The neurobots were made from precursor skin cells that spontaneously form spherical shapes covered in cilia. The neurons showed hallmark features of nervous systems including protein markers for synapses. Calcium imaging confirmed that the neurons were electrically active and functioning in simple networks. Compared with non-neural xenobots the neurobots grew larger and more elongated and displayed complex repeating movement patterns rather than simple paths. Exposure to pentylenetetrazole a drug that affects brain activity altered the movement of neurobots differently than it did non-neural biobots. The researchers also found activation of genes involved in visual perception. The findings were reported recently in Advanced Science. The work was led by Michael Levin and Haleh Fotowat. It examined how neurons organize on their own in a novel biological context without evolutionary shaping. The study used cells from early Xenopus laevis embryos and observed the bots survive on stored nutrients for about nine to ten days.