Scientists birth organisms in 'third state' that's beyond life and death

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An entirely new organism has been created by combining living cells with dead cells, birthing what is being called a "third state" of existence.

A team of researchers penned a new study review in the journal Physiology where they detail a method to achieving this state that is separate from life and death, which they believe will challenge many scientists' general understanding of cell evolution. According to the study's co-authors, biologists Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov, who explained in The Conversation, cells are capable of mechanisms even after the death of the host organism, and a widely known example of that is organ transplants.

The biologists set out to determine what it takes to trigger cell activity after an organism has died, and according to the study, cells can be reactivated into multicellular organisms through various stimuli, such as nutrients, oxygen, bioelectricity, or biochemical cues. The team found that skin cells extracted from deceased frog embryos were capable of adapting to new conditions and spontaneously reorganizing into multicellular organisms called xenobots. The researchers wrote these xenobots were capable of mechanisms far beyond their original predetermined biological roles.

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The researchers found the xenobots used their cilia or their small hairs typically used to push mucus around the frog embryo to instead be used to move around the petri dish. Additionally, xenobots are capable of kinematic self-replication, which means they are able to replicate their structure and function without growing. This process separates itself from other common replication processes that typically involve growth within the organism's body.

"These findings demonstrate the inherent plasticity of cellular systems and challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways. The third state suggests that organismal death may play a significant role in how life transforms over time," write the researchers in The Conversation