The day may come when humans will take on the form of cyborgs, which will include integrated robotic parts to improve their performance. But long before this process, the opposite process of integration may occur, and robots equipped with human tissue or other living cells, oddly enough, will look more realistic.
These unique biohybrid robots can be equipped with muscle cells to help machines perform complex subtle movements. The robots can be combined with bacteria to be implanted into their bodies for precise medical procedures.
Fiction or reality?
And the fantastic future presented in the article seems to start today. In a new high-profile scientific study, a group of scientists and engineers from around the world presented biohybrid robotics as a field that is entering an era of revolution.
"You can see this new direction as analogous to the concepts associated with the creation of cyborgs," says lead author Leonardo Ricotti.
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For several years, engineers have been able to create robots of absolutely all shapes and sizes. As a result, we have received technical machines with broad functionality.
Some robots are indispensable on assembly lines. They can be useful in industrial applications by tightening bolts or welding sheet metal. Miniature robots, less than a millimeter in size, are being developed to fit into the human body. Such devices can destroy cancer cells or promote wound healing.
Robots do not differ in subtlety of actions
“But among all existing robots there is a sorely lack of devices with a wide range of fine movements and high energy efficiency. Such indicators characterize living organisms that have gone through a difficult evolutionary path to perfection over millions of years, Ricotti told Live Science. “That is why it is necessary to introduce elements of living organisms into machines.”
If the robot is moving and its performance is finely tuned, then scientists can use the machine to study and treat the human body. Also, robots can be involved in the production of products, if it requires maximum precision.
Ricotti argues that activating and coordinating movements has become an insurmountable challenge in the field of robotics. For example, machines may be designed to lift heavy loads or make precise cuts with ease, but the machine cannot finely coordinate its movements.
Animal tissue implantation
The movements of animals are gentle, as the charge of molecular activity originates within the nerve cells and culminates in large-scale muscular movement. This increases the likelihood that animal tissue such as the heart muscle or the muscles of insects can provide precise actuation and steady movement of robots.
For example, a group of scientists led by Barry Trimmer of Tufts University has developed biohybrid worm-gear mechanized machines that move by contracting insect muscle cells.
Another major challenge in robotics is finding the power source. This problem is especially acute when assembling microscopic specimens, in which the device for feeding may be larger than the robot itself. The engineer Sylvain Martel decided to use magnetotactic bacteria, which move along the lines of a magnetic field in order to carry the drug into hard-to-reach cells affected by a cancerous tumor. A team of scientists led by Martel is able to direct the bacteria through external magnets.
Existing restrictions
Are there limits to what these biohybrids can achieve? Living cells require nourishment, which means that these robots are now usually short-lived devices. In addition, biohybrid machines can only operate in a certain temperature regime that is acceptable for life, which means that their operation is impossible in conditions of extreme heat or cold.
Despite these challenges, Ricotti and his colleagues said the field of biohybrid robots is rapidly evolving and is moving smoothly from "the art of the possible" to "reliable manufacturing."
It is possible that in the near future, the descendants of cyborgs will be treated by subjects of biohybrid robotic medicine, no doubt controlled by an android doctor.
Maya Muzashvili