Scientists discover a 'third state' between life and death as frog skin cells reorganise into new moving structures

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026.

Researchers at Tufts University and the University of Vermont have documented frog embryo skin cells that, once placed in a laboratory setting, self-organise into novel multicellular structures capable of movement and biological functions absent from their role in the source animal. The structures, called xenobots, use tiny hairlike projections called cilia to move — repurposing cellular machinery in ways that defy conventional biology. The findings challenge the assumption that cells simply die when removed from a living organism. Scientists are now debating whether cells exhibit something resembling primitive cognition or are simply running biochemical programmes.

The discovery centres on post-mortem gene activity — cells continuing to reorganise even after the organism itself has died.

Researchers say the findings complicate the boundary between life and death, pointing to a distinct 'third state' of cellular activity that sits between the two.

Whether the cells show genuine agency or consciousness remains fiercely contested, with scientists split between primitive-cognition and pure-biochemistry interpretations.