Our group has reported two unprecedented, bioengineered hybrid robots at different length scales, ranging from the nano- to the millimeter-scale, in the prestigious journal Science Robotics. Hybrid robots combine biological and artificial components in a single system.
At the nanoscale, we demonstrated that nanoparticles coated with urease enzyme (so called nanobots ) swim in urea solutions naturally present in the bladder of a mice. It is of extreme importance to track swarms of nanobots moving in vivo, since millions of them are required to treat specific cancer pathologies. To do so, we used of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) at CIC biomaGUNE, a highsensitive non-invasive technique extensively used in the biomedical field. This technique allows the observation of radiolabelled nanobots in the bladder of mice like never before. Nanobots actively move in 3D, reaching the walls of bladder where tumors are typically located, something not achieved with passive nanoparticles or current treatments. This work constitutes a fundamental advance in the race of nanobots to become a key technological player in precision medicine.
At a larger scale, we combined skeletal muscle cells and hydrogels using 3D printing for the development of living robots (biobots) swimming at extraordinary velocities. We took advantage of the spontaneous contraction of muscle cells to mechanically self-train them, becoming stronger musclebased swimmers. We integrated a compliant skeleton with a serpentine spring shape, designed and optimized via simulations. This innovative scaffold provides mechanical self-stimulation, without the need of any external input obtaining a biobot which moves 791x faster than any reported skeletal muscle–based biobots. This research opens the door to a new generation of stronger and faster biological robots based on muscle cells not only for environmental, drug delivery and/or drug testing purposes, but also for the development of bionic prosthetics.
