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"Researchers at the University of Illinois are developing what they call \u201Cbio-bots,\" or machines that combine synthetic 3D-printed frameworks with biological muscle tissue.\nWhen the muscle fibers are jolted with electricity, they contract. Those muscles are attached to 3D-printed \"bones,\" which are flexible enough to bend under the strain, and the result is forward motion. Scientists can control the speed of each bot by varying the frequency of electric pulses.\nSee also: U.S. Navy's Robot Firefighters Prepare for a Test Run\nResearchers here have worked on similar projects before. A walking bio-bot in 2012  used rat heart cells to provide motion. However, the heart cells were \"always on\"; researchers couldn\u2019t control when they fired. \nThe new version solves that problem.\n\u201CSkeletal muscles cells are very attractive because you can pace them using external signals,\u201D head researcher Rashid Bashir said. \u201CWe want to have different options that could be used by engineers to design these things.\u201D\nThe Illinois group envisions bio-bots that act as surgical aids or drug delivery vehicles, perhaps even with their own neurons so they can recognize and respond to light or chemical stimuli.\nThe team\u2019s findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/07/02/walking-bio-bots/>