It’s Alive!

I loved Young Frankenstein.  I thought it was brilliant.  The script was awesome as was the entire cast, but none more so than Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein…or was it Frankenstien?

Of course, Wilder’s pronouncement that the monster was alive was tremendous – so much so that many of us use that line at various times when something spectacular happens in our lives.

So, right now you’re probably thinking what does all this have to do with Existential Thread?  I’m glad you asked.

One of the early decisions I made when I was writing the book was that I wanted to create a new species by combining human DNA with that of a bot in order to accelerate the evolutionary process.  My only real concern was that the concept might be a bridge too far.

Fortunately, I have once again been saved by real scientists.

On January 14, 2020, Futurism.com ran an article titled “Scientists Build First “Living Robots” From Frog Stem Cells”.  The link to the article is https://futurism.com/scientists-worlds-first-living-robots-stem-cells.  The scientists who accomplished this marvel said that their creation is neither a traditional robot nor a “known species of animal”.  Instead, per Victor Tangermann who wrote the article, the discovery is “a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism”.

But wait, there’s more!

Futurism.com ran a follow-up article on April 3, 2020 (https://futurism.com/the-byte/living-xenobots-biological-cells).  The new organism has been named Xenobots after the Xeponus laevis frog from which the stem cells were taken.  Importantly, these new organisms cannot reproduce.  So, just like in Existential Thread, the next challenge will be to find the key to allowing them to do so.