July 1, 2014

Muscle-powered bio-bots walk on command



A new generation of miniature biological robots is flexing its muscle.

Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a class of walking “bio-bots” powered by muscle cells and controlled with electrical pulses, giving researchers unprecedented command over their function. The group published its work in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.