Archive · 1 Jan 2026
Scientists explore ‘third state’ of life with xenobots
Scientists have been studying tiny organisms called xenobots, which are made from cells taken from frog embryos.
These xenobots can do amazing things like move around, clean up tiny particles, and even fix themselves if they get hurt.
What's really interesting is that these cells can do things they wouldn't normally do inside a frog.
Scientists think this shows that cells can have a life of their own, even after the organism they came from has died.
They call this a 'third state' of life, somewhere between being alive and being dead.
This means that death might not be the end, and cells can still do important things even after an organism dies.
Scientists have also seen similar behaviors in human cells, which they call 'anthrobots'.
Xenobots are lab-designed multicellular organisms from frog embryo cells.
Scientists Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov studied xenobots' abilities, including movement and self-repair.
Xenobots exhibit behaviors not seen in natural frog cells, like collecting particles and self-organizing.
Scientists propose a 'third state' of life where cells reorganize after the organism's death.
Similar behaviors observed in human cells, termed 'anthrobots'.
- Who
- Scientists Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov
- What
- Exploration of a 'third state' of life using xenobots
- When
- Not specified
- Where
- University of Alabama at Birmingham and City of Hope cancer center
- Why
- To understand cellular autonomy and adaptation beyond organism death
- Xenobots
- Lab-designed multicellular organisms from frog embryo cells
- Scientists Involved
- Peter Noble (microbiologist) and Alex Pozhitkov (bioinformatics researcher)
- Cell Types Used
- Skin and heart cells
- Capabilities of Xenobots
- Movement, particle collection, self-organization, self-repair, collective behaviors
- Third State of Life
- Cells reorganize into new forms after organism's death
- Human Cell Experiments
- Similar behaviors observed in 'anthrobots'