"Using cross-disciplinary approaches across more than 20 animal phyla, we revealed independent origins of neurons and complex brains from genealogically different cell populations. In descendants of earliest metazoans neural and immune systems are simpler and functionally coupled, enabling making hybrid nerve circuits and even entire chimeric animals. The obtained neurobots and fused animals were able to be autonomous and survive, opening unprecedented opportunities for experimental 4D+ synthetic biology, from the reconstruction of ancient neural architectures to the design of elementary brains and basal cognition."