Biosimilar liquid-metal living matter

Breaking away from the long journey of natural selection to create biology-resembling living matter is exceedingly significant for understanding life and thus better enhancing the quality and length of human life. Among various potential ways to approach such a long-standing goal, liquid metals and their extended composites are providing rather promising answers. Here, we systematically present a basic framework and concept of liquid-metal living matter toward making biology-like objects through fully bringing out their unusual physical, chemical, and biological capabilities. The logical clues and technical approaches to achieve liquid-metal living matter were screened out in analogy to biological counterparts by following their sizes, structures, and functions spanning from cells, tissues, and organs to organisms. We first clarify biomimetic roles that liquid metals have exhibited in their autonomous behaviors and biotaxis to external fields. Then, we explain how to adopt liquid metals and their derivatives to form various liquid-metal cells, which could aggregate into corresponding tissues. Further, structural designs and combinatory integrations are suggested to realize liquid-metal organs and even biomimetic life. Finally, perspectives on applying liquid-metal living matter to construct artificial life are given, which warrants tremendous research and application opportunities in the future.