Scientists at Sapienza University of Rome have developed the first light-programmable microrobots for possible application in the biomedical and diagnostic fields, according to a study published in Advanced Functional Materials.
The microrobots developed by researchers at the Department of Physics are biohybrids since they move thanks to bacteria-derived 'tails' (flagella), and the study demonstrates that they can be programmed using structured light.
Experiments and mathematical models have in fact shown that these microrobots can take advantage of swimming bacteria to move and that their movement can be controlled remotely by proteins that act like nano solar panels.
"Our microrobots resemble microscopic tanks that have two propulsion units powered by the rotation of bacterial flagella instead of tracks," said Nicola Pellicciotta of Sapienza University.
“The speed of rotation can be controlled by light through genetic modification. In this way, we were able to control the direction of the movement of these microrobots by illuminating the two propulsion units with light of different intensities," he continued.
"Like in Amazon warehouses, hundreds of microrobots could one day navigate a microwarehouse where the items to be organized and distributed are individual cells in a biological sample," added Roberto Di Leonardo, another author of the research.
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