MIT scientists build a tiny robot that swims using living muscle cells

MIT engineers have built a paper-thin swimming robot powered by living muscle cells that respond to flashes of light, allowing it to swim and steer through water. The breakthrough could pave the way for tiny, self-healing biological robots capable of exploring fragile environments that ordinary machines cannot safely navigate. MIT scientists build a tiny robot that swims using living muscle cells.

MIT researchers have demonstrated that a single, carefully engineered layer of living muscle cells can generate enough force to propel a tiny robot forward. The engineers developed an extremely thin swimming robot that uses living muscle tissue to move its fins. Described in a new study published in Advanced Functional Materials, the device has a flexible gel framework roughly the length and width of a stick of gum.

The gel forms two fins, each coated with a layer of muscle cells far thinner than a human hair. These cells have been genetically modified to contract when exposed to light. By directing light onto either fin, the researchers can trigger muscle contractions that make the fin flap and push the robot through water.