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Stuttgart – A team of scientists in the Department of Physical Intelligence at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has combined robotics with biology by equipping E. coli bacteria with artificial components to build a biohybrid microrobot. First, as can be seen in Figure 1, the team attached several nanoliposomes to each bacterium. In its outer ring, this spherical carrier encloses a material (ICG, green particle) that melts when illuminated by near infrared light. Further to the center, within the aqueous core, liposomes encapsulate water-soluble chemotherapeutic drug (DOX) molecules. The second component the researchers attached to the bacteria were magnetic nanoparticles. When exposed to a magnetic field, the iron oxide particles serve as a boost over these already highly motile microorganisms. In this way, it is easier to control the bacterial pool – a design refined towards in vivo applications. Meanwhile, the binding strap of liposomes and magnetic particles in...

Producing biomaterials that match the performance of cartilage and tendons has been a elusive goal for scientists, but new materials created at Cornell represent a promising new approach to mimic natural tissue. The results are published July 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and provide a new strategy for synthesizing clinical solutions for damaged tissue. The tissue must be soft enough to bend and flex, but durable enough to withstand prolonged loads – for example, the loads that the knee tendons have to support. When tissues are worn or damaged, collagen hydrogels and synthetic materials have the potential to serve as substitutes, but they do not have the right combination of biological and mechanical properties of natural tissues. Now, Cornell researchers have engineered a biohybrid composite material with essential characteristics of natural tissue. It consists of two main ingredients: collagen – which provides softness and biocompatibility to the materia...