Posted on 07/24/2012 4:56:11 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Scientists in the US have created a free swimming artificial jellyfish.
The team members built the replica using silicone as a base on which to grow heart muscle cells that were harvested from rats.
They used an electric current to shock the Medusoid into swimming with synchronised contractions that mimic those of real jellyfish.
The advance, by researchers at Caltech and Harvard University, is reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
The finding serves as a proof of concept for reverse engineering a variety of muscular organs and simple life forms.
Because jellyfish use a muscle to pump their way through the water, the way they function - on a very basic level - is similar to that of a human heart.
"I started looking at marine organisms that pump to survive," said Kevin Kit Parker, a professor of bioengineering and applied physics at Harvard.
"Then I saw a jellyfish at the New England Aquarium, and I immediately noted both similarities and differences between how the jellyfish pumps and the human heart.
"The similarities help reveal what you need to do to design a bio-inspired pump."
Mechanical movement
The work also points to a broader definition of "synthetic life" in an emerging field of science that has until now focused on replicating life's building blocks, say the researchers.
Prof Parker said he wanted to challenge the traditional view of synthetic biology which is "focused on genetic manipulations of cells". Instead of building just a cell, he sought to "build a beast".
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Cool! Small scale bioengineering.
That damn thing is going to grow to kill us all.
The Blob 2012!
I get the same feeling when I read the news stories about the drones. I’ve seen that movie and it never turns out well for humans.
Gotta be jelly, ‘cause jam don’t shake like that.
Thanks BenLurkin.
I like the Festo air jellyfish that flies via remote control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_citFkSNtk
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