In the decade beginning with 2020s, science fiction will become reality. Autonomous cars, plant-based meat, kidneys from our bio-material which are 3-D printed, gene editing for disease elimination, nanobots for drug delivery and blockage removal, hypersonic jets — all this will be possible in the next 10 years. Ideas such as AI, universal translators, sex robots, driverless cars, gene editing and quantum computing are at the cusp of maturity.

Future robots may not be built from steel, silicon, metal, plastic or other non-biodegradable synthetic materials. The living robots, have been built with stem cells drawn from frog embryo. These can replicate human actions. The design is proposed by the computers. The cells are termed xenobots. They were given pre-loaded nutrients. It is virtually creation of life. A frog has been re-purposed into a different organism. It could lead in future to synthesizing of body parts and repairing dead tissues. Xenobots could scrape plaque from arteries and could collect microplastic in oceans. These are biodegradable bots.

Such manipulation of biological systems is fraught with risks. These could keep evolving and could be a menace like viruses. AI-driven xenobots can be weaponised against humans.