Robot with living cells

[_Doc]

I found this unique. This little robot, the size of a penny, uses rat heart cells to move. The heart cells are light-sensitive and upon zapping it with light the bot will flutter through the liquid. This little robot is called the "Robotic Stingray" since it moves similar to a stingray. The rat heart cells are genetically engineered.
I feel odd about this. One it is amazing for a bio-robot to move as this does but, it took a rat's heart to make it work. I guess I have never been one for consequentialism. Was the death of a few rats worth building a robot that can swim? I want to say yes since it is now grown instead of extracted. Yet, I also want to say no. What is your opinion on this? Also, what type of actions do you think this thing could do. Or how it would help us. I can see it being used in medicine.

Last question. Would you call it a machine or life form? I say machine. (I ask this because the article also asked it. Thought it was a good question)

Link:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technol ... rat-cells/

[Red]

Well, is it sentient? If it's not, then it's not an animal. Possibly.

Could it be both? It uses foreign sources to do actions of a biological organism, but I'm no doctor.

[Cirion Spellbinder]

Well, is it sentient? If it's not, then it's not an animal.

An animals is any organism that's part of the animal kingdom. No part of being an animal necessitates sentience. Sponges and mussels are examples of non-sentient animals.

[Red]

An animals is any organism that's part of the animal kingdom. No part of being an animal necessitates sentience. Sponges and mussels are examples of non-sentient animals.

Hence the term "probably".

[PsYcHo]

Does "cyborg" work if it isn't humanoid? I vote cyborg.

As far as animal testing and manipulation like this, I'm all for it as long as it has the end-goal of benefiting humanity while being as cruelty-free as possible. If a bio-mechanical organism could be engineered to one day swim through the blood stream and clear blockages from the arteries, then I feel it is worthwhile. Now if their goal is to make "moving rat-heart tattoos" or some cosmetic nonsense, then I would be against it.

[Mateo3112]

By what i've read, it works in a similar fashion as a normal brain. I think i'd define it as an Artificial Animal Form. An animal artificially created by humans. But since it doesn't reproduce, i'm not sure.

As far as animal testing, i totally agree with PsYcHo on the subject. If it benefits humanity then i'm ok with this. They actually adress this on the article: "Maybe the coolest aspect of the stingray bot is that different scientists can all learn radically different things from it(...) Meanwhile the roboticists and engineers can see different ways to use biological cells as building materials, and marine biologists can take a look to better understand why the muscle tissues in rays are built and organized the way they are."

[_Doc]

Does "cyborg" work if it isn't humanoid? I vote cyborg.

Didn't think of putting that has an option. I didn't put it as one because the definition says a cyborg is a "person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body." So i guess you could call the human that has this robot inside him/her a cyborg. That is if it extends his/her limitations.