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Self-replication from random parts

Author

Listed:
  • Saul Griffith

    (Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Dan Goldwater

    (Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Joseph M. Jacobson

    (Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Self-replicants: good in parts What makes biological replication so effective is the ability of the DNA template to select the right building blocks (nucleotides) from a set of randomly scattered parts, combined with the ability to correct copying errors. This enables living systems, in time, to generate exponential numbers of accurate copies of themselves. A team from MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms has developed machines that use a similar two-step process for the autonomous self-replication of a reconfigurable string of parts from randomly positioned components. Such robots, suitably miniaturized and mass-produced, could constitute self-fabricating systems whose assembly is brought about by the parts themselves.

Suggested Citation

  • Saul Griffith & Dan Goldwater & Joseph M. Jacobson, 2005. "Self-replication from random parts," Nature, Nature, vol. 437(7059), pages 636-636, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:437:y:2005:i:7059:d:10.1038_437636a
    DOI: 10.1038/437636a
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