Building the First Living Robots (VIDEO) University of Vermont This video is under embargo. Please login to access this video. Caption A team of scientists at the University of Vermont and Tufts University designed living robots on a UVM supercomputer. Then, at Tufts, they re-purposed living frog cells -- and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These tiny 'xenobots' can move on their own, circle a target and heal themselves after being cut. These novel living machines are neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. They're a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism. They could, one day, be used for tasks as varied as searching out radioactive contamination, gathering microplastic in the oceans, or traveling in human arteries to scrape out plaque. Credit Courtesy Sam Kriegman, Josh Bongard, UVM Usage Restrictions with coverage of associated story License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.