bio-bots
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Watch tissue-based robots move in response to light
Researchers have modified muscle cells to move in response to light, which could eventually result in "bio-bots" useful for health or environmental applications. The breakthrough was made possible by the rapidly expand field of optogenetics, in which algae genes are spliced with muscle tissue from mice to make it sensitive to blue light. The team from the University of Illinois started with a 3D-printed hydrogel skeleton, then looped a ring of the modified tissue around. By firing a flash intermittently, they were able to make the muscle move, and even "exercise" it to become stronger.
