Research team converts human cells into ‘bots’ that repaired tissue damage

Boston, USA

When you hear a word like 'robot surgeon', you imagine a complex machinery carrying out an operative procedure on a patient. But what about 'anthrobots', does this ring a bell? Well, read on.

Gizem Gumuskaya, a Ph.D. candidate from Tufts University Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering has converted human cells into tiny robots which in turn have found to be aiding human tissue healing in her experiments. These tiny robots are being called 'anthrobots'.

Well, it certainly doesn't mean that we now have an army of tiny cell-robots that can heal you from inside. But the work carried out by Gumuskaya and her team is certainly a step in that direction.

The work

To make these anthrobots, Gumuskya chose cells that are found in the lining of the human trachea. These cells have hair-like structures called cilia which help in flow of liquids.

Gumuskaya began by growing thousands of these cells in a 3D Matrix for two weeks. During this period, the cells multiplied and came together forming spheroids.

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These spheroids were then removed and bathed in a chemical that would make the cilia come out. The manner in which the cilia came out determined the movement of these 'anthrobots'. Some anthrobots were small, round and had cilia evenly spread on their outer surface. Some anthrobots were squiggly and had irregular distribution of cilia on their surface.

Such differences imparted different movements to these anthrobots. Some swam in straight line while others in circles and so on.

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The research team then tried function of these anthrobots on damaged human tissue.

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Damaged human neurons were taken in a petri dish and these anthrobots were released. It was seen that these anthrobots moved on their own and formed structures that formed protective bridges through which the neurons could heal themselves.

The study has been published in the journal Advanced Science on November 30, 2023.

(With inputs from agencies)