"Biobots"! Spontaneously contracted heart cells

Researchers at the University of Illinois are developing " biobots " made up of heart cells and hydrogels. This biological robot is called a miniaturized walking machine and consists of a gel and neonatal rat heart cells. According to a paper published in Nature, scientists used a laser to print a 2mm x 4mm robotic scaffold on the surface of a photosensitive prepolymer, and then added multiple spontaneously contracted heart cells.

As a result, the bio-robot performs muscle contraction twice every three seconds, allowing the printed "mechanical legs" to perform breaststroke movements in the liquid medium. After trying several different designs, the robots obtained by the developers The maximum speed of movement is 236 microns per second, which is about twice the average width of a person's hair.

Researchers say the design combines geometry, mechanics, cell adhesion molecular science, and computational optimization. Fortunately, there is no need for humans to be engulfed by this group of biological robots, because such robots can only move in liquid media, and at this stage, the robot can only last three to five days before, after that Heart muscle cells lose their contractility.