finding

active

finding:evolutionary-algorithm-designed-xenopus-cell-clusters-exhibit-fast-self-motile-behavior-purely-from-evolved-novel-shape-and-tissue-distribution-not-neural-control-or-genomic-information

Evolutionary algorithm-designed Xenopus cell clusters exhibit fast self-motile behavior purely from evolved novel shape and tissue distribution, not neural control or genomic information.

Empirical result from Kriegman et al. 2020 demonstrating that 'reprogramming' occurs without altering DNA software

Source paper

extracted_from

Living Things Are Not (20th Century) Machines: Updating Mechanism Metaphors in Light of the Modern Science of Machine Behavior

(2021) · Joshua Bongard · Michael Levin

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (2)

claim

Progress in machine behavior science and biohybrid engineering breaks down the simplistic dualism of life vs. machine, revealing a continuum of emergence, rational control, and agency.
supports
Second central claim: life and machine form a continuous multidimensional space, not discrete bins
Updated Software/Hardware Definition: a continuous variant — a living system is software reprogrammable to the extent stimuli can alter its behavior, as opposed to needing physical rewiring; the binary distinction is not useful.
supports
The paper's proposed dissolution of binary software/hardware distinction into a continuum

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Xenobots (frog skin cells) exhibit kinematic self-replication when provided with loose cells.finding0.811
Empirical result from Kriegman et al. 2021: frog cell-derived synthetic organisms replicate without sexual reproduction.
Xenobots perform kinematic self-replication by herding loose cells into new Xenobots.finding0.809
From Kriegman et al. (2021), a novel mode of reproduction never before seen.
The remarkable ability of neurons to unify toward a centralized self is an evolutionary pivot of far earlier cell communication strategies that first solved problems in navigating anatomical morphospace.hypothesis0.796
Proposes an evolutionary trajectory linking morphogenesis to neural cognition.
Xenobots perform kinematic self-replication, a novel behavior not known in any other species on Earth, using a Von Neumann-style replication within 48 hours of creation.claim0.794
Highlights extraordinary plasticity and problem-solving.
Xenobots and other liberated cellular collectives reveal hidden morphogenetic capabilities normally suppressed by instructive signaling of other cells.claim0.792
Interpretive claim about the meaning of Xenobot behaviors.
Evolution pivoted bioelectric networks' control of spatial pattern during morphogenesis into nervous systems' control of temporal patterns during behavior.claim0.791
Hypothesis on evolutionary origin of behavioral intelligence from morphogenetic competencies.
Evolution actually searches not only genotype space but a more tractable space of behavior-shaping signals that exploit cellular intelligence.claim0.784
Central thesis of the paper.
Morphogenetic and behavioral problem-solving share deep algorithmic and mechanistic symmetries, with bioelectric networks serving both developmental and neural functions via evolutionary pivot.hypothesis0.781
Testable prediction that insights from developmental bioelectricity can illuminate behavioral cognition and vice versa; grounds portability of neuroscience tools across tissue types.