Living robot made from human cells surprises researchers

Scientists create tiny living robots from human cells that can move and help heal wounds or damaged tissue in the future.

The team at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has named the new robot anthrobot. It builds on previous work by some of the team members, who created the first living robot, a xenobot, from stem cells taken from African clawed frog ( Xenopus laevis ) embryos. Michael Levin, a professor of biology at Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences, and his colleagues published the new research on November 30 in the journal Advanced Science.

The scientists used adult human cells taken from the airways of anonymous donors of various ages and sexes. They chose these cells because they were relatively easy to access after Covid-19 and because of a trait they thought would give the cells movement, said Gizem Gumuskaya, a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University. The airway cells are covered with hair-like cilia that move back and forth. These help the airway cells push out tiny particles that enter the airways. Previous research has shown that these cells can form organoids, clusters of cells that are widely used in science.

Gumuskaya experimented with the chemistry of the tracheal cells' growth conditions and found a way to encourage the organoids to grow cilia outward. Once she found the right substrate, the organoids could move within a few days, with the cilia acting as paddles. "Nothing happened from day one to day six. Around day seven, there was a rapid transformation. It looked like a flower was blooming. The cilia were popping out and pointing outward. In our method, each anthrobot grows from a single cell," Gumuskaya explains.

It’s this self-assembling mechanism that makes the robots unique. Other scientists have created biological robots, but they have to be created manually by building molds and implanting cells into them. Anthrobots are different. Some are spherical and covered in cilia, while others are ball-shaped and covered in irregular cilia. They move in different ways. Some walk straight, some move in tight circles, and many stand still and sway. They survive up to 60 days in lab conditions.

The experiments described in the latest study are still in their early stages, but the goal is to see if anthrobots could have medical applications. The team looked at whether anthrobots could crawl over human neurons grown in a dish and “scratched” to simulate injury. They were surprised to see that the anthrobots promoted growth in the damaged areas of the neurons, although they don’t yet understand the mechanism of the healing.

Falk Tauber, a researcher at the Freiburg Center for Interacting Materials and Biotechnology at the University of Freiburg, said the study provides a foundation for future efforts to use biorobots for a variety of functions. He said the ability to create them from a patient’s own cells suggests a wide range of applications both in the lab and eventually in the human body.

According to Levin, anthrobots do not raise any ethical or safety concerns. They are not created from human embryos or genetically modified. They cannot survive outside of a specialized environment, have a lifespan of just a few weeks, and appear to be biodegradable.

An Khang (According to CNN )

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