A photo from open sources
They are soft, biocompatible, about 7 mm in length (i.e. quite macro-sized) and are able to move independently. These miniature biobots developed at the University of Illinois (USA), mark a huge step forward in synthetic biology.
That’s how they look so far – androids from Illinois.
The creation of non-electronic biological machines is the most an intriguing problem that scientists are struggling to solve, working at the intersection of biology and engineering. Current moving biobots are not just an imitation of what has already been created nature, but also unique functional machines for production which only hydrogel, heart muscle cells and 3D printer. According to the developers, the “design” of biobots can change taking into account the requirements of the specifics of their future use. Details of the creation of biobots and their characteristics given in an article published in the open journal Scientific Reports (with many illustrations and experimental data). The key to locomotion (a set of coordinated movements, through which, for example, a person moves in space) biobot has become asymmetry. Every bot that looks like microscopic springboard, there is one long, thin leg, resting on a strong and dense supporting short leg. Thin and long is covered with laboratory cardiac muscle cells the mouse. When these cells contract, the leg, pulsating, pushes forward biobot. The maximum speed is not so small – 236 microns / s. A tool for creating bots was a 3D printer using gelatinous hydrogel for printing the main “body” (body). This approach allows you to quickly produce and test various forms of biomachines and fine-tune the initial design for maximum speed. Scientists themselves dream of creating bots whose living cells could respond to certain external stimuli – for example, a chemical gradient. IN in this case, bots could be used as “dogs”, living sensors sniffing and accelerating towards the source toxins. The plans of bioengineers development of control and functional properties of the wards. One obvious feature is integration of neurons for direction of movement as well incorporation of photosensitive cells. In addition, scientists working on creating robots with a complex physical design that allow them to make various movements in three-dimensional space.
