Designing non-electronic biological machines has been a riddle that scientists at the interface of biology and engineering have struggled to solve. The walking bio-bots demonstrate the Illinois teams ability to forward-engineer functional machines using only hydrogel, heart cells and a 3-D printer.
With an altered design, the bio-bots could be customized for specific applications in medicine, energy or the environment. The research team, led by Rashid Bashir, published its results in the journal Scientific Reports.