/ News

19.11.2012

Scientists print out 'walking' biological machines

It sounds like something dreamt up by a science fiction writer, but scientists have created a walking 'bio-bot' made from rat heart cells and hydrogels, using a 3-D printer.

The biological machines are 7 millimetres long, and resemble a miniature springboard with one long, thin leg that is supported by a stouter supporting leg. The thin leg is covered in rat heart cells which, when they beat, cause the long leg to pulse, propelling the bio-bot forward. 

The research was conducted by scientists at the University of Illinois, and published in the journal Scientific Reports

A biological machine is any sort of biological material, such as animal cells, that is engineered to produce a highly specific function. Bio-bots such as this one have many potential applications in security, environment, and health applications, such as organ mimics for drug testing. 

''The idea is that, by being able to design with biological structures, we can harness the power of cells and nature to address challenges facing society,'' said Rashid Bashir, a professor of engineering at the University of Illinois who led the team. 

''As engineers, we’ve always built things with hard materials, materials that are very predictable. Yet there are a lot of applications where nature solves a problem in such an elegant way. Can we replicate some of that if we can understand how to put things together with cells?'' 

The rat heart muscles cells were seeded onto the cantilever hydrogel - the thin leg. Their spontaneous contraction over several days provided the power that moved the bot forward. Hydrogels are a network of polymer chains that are very flexible like natural tissue, and are often used as scaffolds in tissue engineering. 

By using a 3-D printer, the team was able to rapidly adjust and experiment with the design of the bot, for maximum speed. It also allowed them to make manufacture the biological machines with greater precision. 

The team are hoping that the bio-bots could be used for drug screening or chemical analysis as their motion can indicate how the cells are responding to the environment. 

''Our goal is to see if we can get this thing to move toward chemical gradients, so we could eventually design something that can look for a specific toxin and then try to neutralize it,'' says Bashir.  

"Now you can think about a sensor that’s moving and constantly sampling and doing something useful, in medicine and the environment. The applications could be many, depending on what cell types we use and where we want to go with it." 

To see a video of the bio-bots in action click here.

Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/67534-scientists-print-out-walking-biological-machines




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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.

The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies. 

The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.

A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.

The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.

An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.

 

Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society

2015-2020

The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.

2020-2025

Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning  bodily life. Such technologies will  greatly enlarge  the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make  all  kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.

2030-2035

Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness  with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness  onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of  cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence,  expand human capabilities  and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times.  The final result  at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.

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This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive!  Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.

Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots  will become affordable  and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however:  humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover,  prerequisites for a large-scale  expansion into outer space will be created as well.

 

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