xenobot

[ zee-noh-bot ]

noun

1. a microscopic programmable organism made of living tissue that is grown in a lab:

   Potential uses of these xenobots could include picking up microplastics in the ocean.

Word History and Origins

Origin of xenobot¹

First recorded in 2015–20; blend of Xeno(pus laevis), the African clawed frog, and (ro)bot ( def )

Example Sentences

As of this writing, the xenobot remains homely and lab-bound, whereas the “Curio” — the theoretical center of Levin’s new novel, “Bubblegum” — is a mass-produced commodity of weaponized cuteness, a kind of unholy hybrid of Giga Pet and Mogwai and Turing machine: velvety soft, forearm-length, “a flesh-and-bone robot that thinks it’s your friend®!” Still, the question this admirably bonkers and fitfully phenomenal book jazz-hands its way around is more or less the one now mooted by reality: Where does “functioning” end and life begin?

From New York Times

A xenobot, derived from the skin cells of frog embryos, at an early stage of development in the laboratory.Credit...

From New York Times

Of greater concern, they said, was how xenobot toxicity, life span and the hypothetical ability to someday reproduce would be assessed and regulated.

From New York Times

A xenobot lives for only about a week, feeding on the small platelets of yolk that fill each of its cells and would normally fuel embryonic development.

From New York Times

The "xenobot," which is 1 millimeter wide, is described as a "reconfigurable organism," according to research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

From Fox News