No they didn't. They built a sheet of biological material that pulsates when placed in an electrical field. Animals reproduce, and hence adapt and evolve.
It's a neat gadget, but let's not get too carried away.
To paraphrase another comment quoting wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system."
I tend to agree that asserting they created an animal is a bit of a stretch. The creature doesn't obtain or maintain its structure through internally-encoded genes, nor does it maintain its behavior through an internal stimulus response mechanism. Its structure is grown around a polymer film, and its behavior is completely externally driven. At best, they have created a cyborg jellyfish-like thing.
Agreed; this isn't much different than in bio where we would apply an electrical current to freshly amputated frogs legs (or heart) and watch them twitch. It's just a much more elaborate presentation. When it's swimming on it's own and reproducing, then I'll agree that they have created a new animal.
No they didn't. They built a sheet of biological material that pulsates when placed in an electrical field. Animals reproduce, and hence adapt and evolve.
It's a neat gadget, but let's not get too carried away.