Part 10/13:
The implications of such technology are profound. Xenobots aren’t just about making living machines—they’re a gateway into understanding the rules governing morphogenesis, behavior, learning, and potentially cognition in biological systems. Levin suggests that these platforms could lead to a vast “option space” of entirely novel bodies and minds, diversified beyond what traditional genetics would predict.
The work prompts a fundamental shift: from attempting to control every genetic variable to understanding and harnessing cellular perception and decision-making processes. Such systems could be programmed or prompted to learn, adapt, and perform tasks in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.