Adaptive biohybrid pumping machine with flow loop feedback

Ethics and responsibility in biohybrid robotics research

The industrial revolution of the 19th century marked the onset of an era of machines and robots that transformed societies. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a new generation of robots envisions similar societal transformation. These robots are biohybrid: part living and part engineered. They may self-assemble and emerge from complex interactions between living cells. While this new era of living robots presents unprecedented opportunities for positive societal impact, it also poses a host of ethical challenges. A systematic, nuanced examination of these ethical issues is of paramount importance to guide the evolution of this nascent field. Multidisciplinary fields face the challenge that inertia around collective action to address ethical boundaries may result in unexpected consequences for researchers and societies alike. In this Perspective, we i) clarify the ethical challenges associated with biohybrid robotics, ii) discuss the need for and elements of a potential governance framework tailored to this technology; and iii) propose tangible steps toward ethical compliance and policy formation in the field of biohybrid robotics.

Biofabrication of Living Actuators

The impact of tissue engineering has extended beyond a traditional focus in medicine to the rapidly growing realm of biohybrid robotics. Leveraging living actuators as functional components in machines has been a central focus of this field, generating a range of compelling demonstrations of robots capable of muscle-powered swimming, walking, pumping, gripping, and even computation. In this review, we highlight key advances in fabricating tissue-scale cardiac and skeletal muscle actuators for a range of functional applications. We discuss areas for future growth including scalable manufacturing, integrated feedback control, and predictive modeling and also propose methods for ensuring inclusive and bioethics-focused pedagogy in this emerging discipline. We hope this review motivates the next generation of biomedical engineers to advance rational design and practical use of living machines for applications ranging from telesurgery to manufacturing to on- and off-world exploration.

Biohybrid Soft Robots Powered by Myocyte: Current Progress and Future Perspectives

Myocyte-driven robots, a type of biological actuator that combines myocytes with abiotic systems, have gained significant attention due to their high energy efficiency, sensitivity, biocompatibility, and self-healing capabilities. These robots have a unique advantage in simulating the structure and function of human tissues and organs. This review covers the research progress in this field, detailing the benefits of myocyte-driven robots over traditional methods, the materials used in their fabrication (including myocytes and extracellular materials), and their properties and manufacturing techniques. Additionally, the review explores various control methods, robot structures, and motion types. Lastly, the potential applications and key challenges faced by myocyte-driven robots are discussed and summarized.

Biohybrid robots: recent progress, challenges, and perspectives

The past ten years have seen the rapid expansion of the field of biohybrid robotics. By combining engineered, synthetic components with living biological materials, new robotics solutions have been developed that harness the adaptability of living muscles, the sensitivity of living sensory cells, and even the computational abilities of living neurons. Biohybrid robotics has taken the popular and scientific media by storm with advances in the field, moving biohybrid robotics out of science fiction and into real science and engineering. So how did we get here, and where should the field of biohybrid robotics go next? In this perspective, we first provide the historical context of crucial subareas of biohybrid robotics by reviewing the past 10+ years of advances in microorganism-bots and sperm-bots, cyborgs, and tissue-based robots. We then present critical challenges facing the field and provide our perspectives on the vital future steps toward creating autonomous living machines.

Empowering engineered muscle in biohybrid pump by extending connexin 43 duration with reduced graphene oxides

Engineered skeletal muscle act as therapeutics invaluable to treat injured or diseased muscle and a "living" material essential to assemble biological machinery. For normal development, skeletal myoblasts should express connexin 43, one of the gap junction proteins that promote myoblast fusion and myogenesis, during the early differentiation stage. However, myoblasts cultured in vitro often down-regulate connexin 43 before differentiation, limiting myogenesis and muscle contraction. This study demonstrates that tethering myoblasts with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) slows connexin 43 regression during early differentiation and increases myogenic mRNA synthesis. The whole RNA sequencing also confirms that the rGO on cells increases regulator genes for myogenesis, including troponin, while decreasing negative regulator genes. The resulting myotubes generated a three-fold larger contraction force than the rGO-free myotubes. Accordingly, a valveless biohybrid pump assembled with the rGO-tethered muscle increased the fluid velocity and flow rate considerably. The results of this study would provide an important foundation for developing physiologically relevant muscle and powering up biomachines that will be used for various bioscience studies and unexplored applications.