Big Think Biohacking our way to health with robot cells | Michael Levin
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Oct 16, 2025 
Michael Levin, a pioneering Professor of Biology at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute at Harvard, shares his groundbreaking insights on regenerative medicine. He discusses an innovative approach that focuses on communicating with cells to induce tissue regeneration. Levin unveils 'xenobots,' bio-robots formed from frog skin cells, showcasing their potential to tackle medical challenges like birth defects and tumor reprogramming. With an emphasis on ethical considerations, he advocates for leveraging cellular intelligence to revolutionize healthcare.
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Cells As Communicating Agents
- Michael Levin reframes regenerative medicine as a problem of communicating with cell collectives rather than purely rewiring genes.
- He argues future therapies will look more like behavioral science or computational psychiatry for tissues.
Latent Possibilities In Development
- Levin describes a large latent option space around standard developmental outcomes that cells can traverse when prompted.
- He emphasises leveraging cells' native competencies instead of micromanaging every molecular detail.
Triggering Frog Limb Regeneration
- Levin recounts prompting adult frog cells to re-enter a regenerative trajectory and rebuild an entire leg after injury.
- He stresses the trigger changed the cells' path, not step-by-step micromanagement of form.