Robots with 3D-printed muscles are powered by the spines of rats Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241889-robots-with-3d-printed-muscles-are-powered-by-the-spines-of-rats/#ixzz6L1SupAbb

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241889-robots-with-3d-printed-muscles-are-powered-by-the-spines-of-rats/?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=8952c41133-briefing-dy-20200428_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-8952c41133-44992633
Robots with 3D-printed muscles are powered by the spines of rats

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241889-robots-with-3d-printed-muscles-are-powered-by-the-spines-of-rats/#ixzz6L1SupAbb

Rat spines control lab-grown muscles

Researchers have built a biological robot that is controlled with part of a rat’s spinal cord. The 6-millimetre robot is made of 3D-printed muscles made of laboratory-grown mouse cells, connected to the section of a rat’s spine that controls the hind legs. Nerves grew from the rat tissue into the muscles and made them contract, and the team could control their ‘Spinobot’ with neurotransmitters. Eventually, the technology could be used in prosthetics, says roboticist Collin Kaufman, but that would probably involve human tissue. “Nobody will have scary rat-spine hands.”

New Scientist | 3 min readReference: APL Bioengineering paper