![Neurobots: The Living Robots With Nervous Systems](https://cdn.slatesource.com/4/7/3/4732ddc5-0aaf-4553-8f19-cfd29dd4f3b7.webp) # Neurobots: The Living Robots With Nervous Systems - [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/neurobots-the-living-robots-with-nervous-systems) - By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph) - Created on Jul 31, 2026 Research institution Tufts University and the Wyss Institute at Harvard Published Advanced Science, 20 February 2026 Neurobot lifespan approximately 10 days Gene editing used zero (nervous system is entirely self-assembled) Predecessor organisms xenobots (2020) and anthrobots (2022) Movement patterns spiral paths, complex direction changes, never identical 🧫🧠🤖01.01.2020 – 01.02.2026 01.01.2020Xenobots born. Tufts and the University of Vermont create the first living robots from frog stem cells (Xenopus laevis). The millimetre-scale organisms move, self-repair and gather loose cells into new xenobots. They have no neurons, only cilia. 01.01.2020 01.11.2021Xenobots reproduce. The team shows kinematic self-replication: xenobots push loose cells into spheres that become working copies of themselves. A form of reproduction no animal or plant uses. The PNAS paper reopens debate about what counts as life. 01.11.2021 01.12.2022Anthrobots appear. Using xenobot methods, the Wyss Institute builds anthrobots from human tracheal cells: living robots made entirely of human material. They navigate surfaces and show early promise at repairing neurons in lab dishes. 01.12.2022 01.02.2026Neurobots arrive. Haleh Fotowat and Michael Levin add neuronal precursor cells to xenobots. The neurons mature, branch through the organism and form electrochemical networks with no instruction from the researchers. The biobots wire themselves. 01.02.2026 Human-neuron anthrobots (in progress). Levin's lab begins adding human neurons to anthrobots. The goal is programmable living systems for drug delivery, neural repair and environmental monitoring. Fauna Systems targets pollutant detection. \[icon:DNA\] What neurobots ARE Neurobots are entirely biological. Built from frog embryonic skin cells and neuronal precursor cells, they are self-powered, self-assembled, and capable of moving through water on their own. They trace spiral paths and reverse direction in complex patterns that vary from specimen to specimen. The nervous system that drives this behaviour grew spontaneously: no genetic modification, no external wiring, no surgery. \[icon:info\] What neurobots are NOT Neurobots are not the robots of science fiction. They are not mechanical, not electronic, not immortal, and not dangerous: they degrade within roughly ten days and cannot survive outside a controlled lab environment. They are also not yet made from human cells. They are proof that a nervous system can self-organise in a novel biological context that evolution never produced, which is the point of the whole experiment. > Can a nervous system develop at all in a completely novel context that is not the product of millions of years of natural selection, and if yes, how does it relate to and function within this synthetic biological environment? We now have a partial answer. ## ThreeThree DoorsDoors That NeurobotsNeurobots UnlockUnlock MedicineMedicine. A livingliving organismorganism that can growgrow its ownown sensorysensory and motormotor circuitscircuits couldcould oneone dayday navigatenavigate tissuetissue, detectdetect damagedamage, and deliverdeliver a targetedtargeted drugdrug withoutwithout a GPSGPS signalsignal or a batterybattery. NeurobotsNeurobots pointpoint towardtoward biologicalbiological machinesmachines that adaptadapt to their environmentenvironment the samesame wayway a bodybody does. NeuroscienceNeuroscience. WatchingWatching neuronsneurons wirewire themselvesthemselves in an organismorganism that has nevernever existedexisted beforebefore tellstells researchersresearchers thingsthings about how nervousnervous systemssystems self-organiseself-organise that wouldwould be nearlynearly impossibleimpossible to learnlearn from studyingstudying brainsbrains shapedshaped by 500500 millionmillion yearsyears of vertebratevertebrate evolutionevolution. It is a blank-slateblank-slate nervousnervous systemsystem in a controllablecontrollable organismorganism. PhilosophyPhilosophy of mindmind. The neurobotsneurobots displaydisplay movementmovement patternspatterns that resembleresemble explorationexploration and avoidanceavoidance behavioursbehaviours. They have not been programmedprogrammed to exploreexplore or avoidavoid anythinganything. At what pointpoint, the researchersresearchers askask, does complexitycomplexity of behaviourbehaviour becomebecome somethingsomething that deservesdeserves a moremore carefulcareful wordword than "machinemachine"? [Full paper: Advanced Science, 20 Feb 2026 (Fotowat, Levin et al.)](https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202508967?utm_source=slatesource) [Tufts University press release and explainer](https://now.tufts.edu/2026/03/16/scientists-create-novel-organism-primitive-nervous-system?utm_source=slatesource)