Tiny Robots Made of Human Cells Repair Neural Tissue

The anthrobots, made from tracheal cells, could one day be used to customize treatments 

In what could be a major step for in the field of personalized medicine, Tufts University scientists succeeded in developing anthrobots, biorobots that possess self-assembly capabilities, and have been studying their therapeutic potential using human tissue grown in a laboratory. The findings were published this week in Advanced Science. 

To test the therapeutic potential a superbot formed by several anthrobots fused together, was placed on a layer of neural tissue that had been damaged. Within three days, the sheet of neural tissue was healed. 

Looking ahead, the Tufts team thinks the anthrobots from a person's own tissue could be used to clear arteries, break up mucus or deliver drugs, with or without genetic engineering. 

To read more about these findings, check out the story in Nature News and Comment.

Above images are three arthrobots with hair-like cilla in yellow. (Images by Gizem Gumuskaya / Tufts.)